Izombe

Color/Appearance: Has a uniform yellow to pinkish-brown color, with sapwood indistinct from heartwood.

Grain/Texture: Fine texture and a straight or slightly interlocked grain.

Rot Resistance: Non-durable; poor resistance to decay or insect attack. Good acid resistance.

Workability: Takes glue and finishes well. Has a slight blunting effect on cutting edges and tools due to a moderate silica content (about .25%).

Odor: Has an unpleasant odor when freshly cut.

Allergies/Toxicity: There have been no health effects associated specifically with izombe, though this may be due to its relative obscurity. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Seldom available in North America. Prices should be moderate when compared to other imported lumber.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, but is on the IUCN Red List. It is listed as endangered  due to a population reduction of over 50% in the past three generations, caused by a decline in its natural range, and exploitation.

Common Uses: A general-purpose lumber used for furniture, interior millwork, plywood, and flooring.

Comments: Although izombe is the sole species in the Testulea ggenus, it is closely related to the Lophira genus, which contains the ekki (Lophira alata). There are currently no Janka hardness values measured for izombe (though there are values for the less common Monnin hardness, a test that doesn’t have a 1:1 conversion into Janka hardness). However, it is listed by PROTA as being “similar to but harder than the wood of Lophira alata” ^[1]Lemmens, R. H. M. J., Louppe, D., & Oteng-Amoako, A. A. (2012). Plant resources of tropical Africa. Timbers 2 (Vol. 7, p640). a statement which seems patently false, as ekki is considerably heavier and nearly twice as hard as izombe on the Monnin scale (10.7 kN for ekki and 5.2 kN for izombe).