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palo morado
Peltogyne mexicana
Peltogyne mexicana is a species of tree that belongs to the family Fabaceae. Members of the genus Peltogyne are commonly known in different regions as purpleheart, morao, nazareno, violeta, pau roxo, or palo morado. The genus Peltogyne is neotropical and is made up of 23 species. Peltogyne mexicana occurs in Guerrero, Mexico, and is one of the northernmost species in the genus.
Many of the vernacular names derive from the characteristic of the color of the wood, which is unusually purple in the center. The coloration darkens and intensifies with exposure to air and ultraviolet (UV) light; if it is put in water for a few hours, the purple color changes to intense black. Peltogyne mexicana is considered a precious wood.
From the article Peltogyne mexicana on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
This tree was reported as a new botanical species by Maximino Martínez in 1960. The distribution of P. mexicana is in Guerrero, Mexico. P. mexicana is a geographic outlier, with most other members of the genus found in South America.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and environment”
At the table
Purpleheart is prized for use in fine inlay work, especially on musical instruments, guitar fret boards, woodturning, cabinetry, flooring, and furniture. The timber is also valuable in applications that require toughness, such as truck decking. Exposure to the dust, generated by cutting and sanding purpleheart, can cause irritation and nausea, possibly due to the presence of dalbergione (neoflavonoid) compounds in the wood, limiting purpleheart's use for crafts. Purpleheart is also a fairly expensive wood, which is why it is usually used in smaller-scale projects.
Wikipedia: “Uses and hazards”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Peltogyne mexicana in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 206533.