Ziricote Wood: Complete Species and Buying Guide

Ziricote wood is a dense tropical hardwood from southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, known for gray-brown heartwood crossed by black, web-like figure. Its hardness, limited supply, and striking grain suit musical instruments, knife handles, veneer, turning, and decorative furniture parts.

What Is Ziricote Wood?

Ziricote is a figured tropical hardwood, not a rosewood or Brazilian species. Dark pigment lines can resemble ink, clouds, or spiderwebs, giving each board an appearance that’s difficult to duplicate with stain or printed veneer.

Botanical Identity and Names

The scientific name is Cordia dodecandra, a member of the Boraginaceae family. Ziricote and siricote are common trade names, while regional naming and spelling vary between countries and sellers.

Ziricote is related to other Cordia woods, including bocote wood, but appearance alone can’t confirm species. Purchase documents should state the scientific name because trade names often overlap.

Native Range and Tree Size

The species grows mainly in southern Mexico, particularly around the Yucatán Peninsula, plus Belize and Guatemala. It is a Central American hardwood rather than a South American wood, despite occasional marketplace descriptions that group every tropical species under Brazilian terminology.

Mature trees commonly reach about 30–65 feet (9–20 metres) tall, with trunks near 2–3 feet (0.6–1 metre) in diameter. Usable boards are much narrower because sapwood, curvature, checks, and internal defects consume part of the log.

Color, Grain, and Figure

Heartwood ranges from medium gray-brown and olive-brown to dark chocolate, often with nearly black lines. The grain may look straight on plain stock, but premium pieces show interlocked or irregular bands with fine-to-medium texture and a soft natural sheen.

A freshly sanded face feels smooth and dense, with little of the open-pored texture found in coarse woods. Oil deepens the chocolate tones and makes the black lines appear wet, while film finishes retain more contrast between pale and dark areas.

Color and figure vary substantially. Buyers drawn to dramatic wood grain patterns should request photographs of the exact board because representative images often show a seller’s finest stock rather than the shipped piece.

Heartwood, Sapwood, and Cuts

The sapwood is usually cream to yellow and sharply separated from the dark heartwood. Some makers use that contrast deliberately, while sapwood-free instrument sets and matched handles demand more selective cutting and cost more per usable cubic inch.

Flat-sawn faces tend to display broad, flowing figure. Quarter-sawn stock often has straighter visual movement and may move less across its width, yet cut orientation can’t correct poor drying or an existing check.

Ziricote Wood Properties and Hardness

Ziricote has a reported Janka hardness near 1,970 lbf and an average dried weight around 50 lb/ft³. It resists dents better than black walnut and hard maple, but hardness doesn’t measure drying stability, toughness, or resistance to grain-related chipping.

Physical Property Table

The following values are reported averages compiled by The Wood Database. Natural variation, moisture level, growing conditions, and testing methods can produce different results.

Property	Approximate value	Workshop meaning
Average dried weight	50 lb/ft³; 805 kg/m³	Heavy for its size and slower to accelerate on a lathe
Specific gravity	0.65 basic; 0.81 at 12% MC	Dense stock may need moisture-meter correction
Janka hardness	1,970 lbf; 8,780 N	Strong resistance to dents and wear
Modulus of rupture	17,800 psi; 122.8 MPa	High bending strength in clear samples
Modulus of elasticity	2.45 million psi; 16.9 GPa	Relatively stiff under load
Crushing strength	9,920 psi; 68.4 MPa	Handles compression well along the grain
Radial shrinkage	4.5%	Movement across growth rings
Tangential shrinkage	7.4%	Greater movement parallel to growth rings
Volumetric shrinkage	12.1%	Total drying movement from green condition
T/R ratio	About 1.6	Reasonable ratio, but checks remain a known risk

Practical Hardness Comparison

Janka testing measures the force needed to press a steel ball into wood. It gives a useful dent-resistance comparison, but it doesn’t predict whether a thin scale will split around a pin hole or whether reversing grain will tear during planing.

Wood	Approximate Janka hardness	Relative workshop feel
Black walnut	1,010 lbf	Cuts easily and dents more readily
Hard maple	1,450 lbf	Firm, smooth, and moderately tool-resistant
Ziricote	1,970 lbf	Dense, crisp, and prone to heat during drilling
Ipe/Brazilian walnut	3,510 lbf	Much harder, heavier, and more abrasive

Durability and Stability

Ziricote heartwood is commonly regarded as naturally durable, though decay and insect resistance vary by sample and exposure. Its price, limited dimensions, and drying behavior make it a poor choice for decking or large exterior structures.

Properly dried stock performs well in small indoor projects. Existing end checks can reopen after ripping, and a finish won’t prevent movement if the core remains wetter than the workshop environment.

Density, Strength, and Shrinkage

High density supports crisp fine details, polished turned surfaces, and wear-resistant handles. That same density raises cutting heat, increases tool resistance, and places more force on thin corners during drilling or routing.

The reported tangential-to-radial shrinkage ratio of about 1.6 is moderate, yet it shouldn’t be read as proof against checking. Drying speed, end sealing, board orientation, and hidden stress often matter more than one average ratio.

Ziricote Compared With Similar Hardwoods

Ziricote differs from other dark hardwoods in origin, hardness, figure, available dimensions, and trade controls. Common names create frequent buying errors, so compare scientific names before comparing prices.

Brazilian Walnut and Ipe

Brazilian walnut usually means ipe, a name applied to dense Handroanthus species from South America. Ipe averages roughly 69 lb/ft³ and 3,510 lbf Janka, making it markedly heavier and harder than ziricote.

Ipe works well for decking and demanding exterior applications. Ziricote is selected for visual figure, instrument parts, veneer, handles, and small precision projects; the two woods aren’t botanical or practical substitutes.

Black Walnut Wood

Black walnut wood, or Juglans nigra, averages about 38 lb/ft³ with a Janka rating near 1,010 lbf. It is easier to machine, widely available in long boards, and usually more economical for complete furniture builds.

Ziricote feels harder beneath a scraper and takes a glassy polish, while walnut cuts with less resistance and offers more forgiving grain. A practical furniture design uses walnut for the structure and ziricote for drawer fronts, pulls, or a focal panel.

Brazilian Rosewood

Brazilian rosewood is Dalbergia nigra; ziricote is Cordia dodecandra. Ziricote can look rosewood-like, but it isn’t a true rosewood and shouldn’t be represented as legally, botanically, or acoustically interchangeable.

Brazilian rosewood carries strict international trade controls. The separate guide to Brazilian rosewood explains why provenance and pre-convention paperwork matter for that species.

Bocote and Ebony

Bocote often shows warm yellow-brown color with bold stripes or eyes. Ziricote tends to be grayer, darker, and more web-like, though unusually colored boards can blur that visual distinction.

Ebony is usually darker and more visually uniform, with some species reaching far greater density. Readers comparing deep black material can review ebony wood, but species identification and trade status still need separate checks.

“Brazillian Wood” Name Confusion

The misspelling “brazillian wood” often appears in marketplace searches and may return ipe, rosewood, walnut-colored lumber, or unrelated tropical stock. Ziricote’s primary native range isn’t Brazil, so ask for Cordia dodecandra on the invoice.

Working With Ziricote Safely

Ziricote machines cleanly with sharp tools and light cuts, but irregular grain, hidden checks, packed drill dust, and heat cause common failures. Inspect and acclimate every blank before removing material.

Drying and Acclimation

Ziricote is known for end and surface checks during drying. Fresh stock should be end-sealed and dried slowly, away from direct sun, heaters, or abrupt humidity shifts.

For climate-controlled interiors, 6–8% moisture content is a practical target; humid regions may settle closer to 8–12%. Apply the moisture-meter maker’s specific-gravity correction because dense exotic wood can produce misleading readings.

“Kiln-dried” describes a process, not equilibrium with your shop. Let stock acclimate before final milling, then compare readings over several days rather than trusting one surface measurement.

Sawing, Planing, and Routing

Use a sharp carbide blade, a zero-clearance insert for small parts, and light controlled passes. Black pigment lines are often decorative rather than cracks, but side lighting will reveal an actual check as a narrow shadow or physical opening.

Interlocked grain can tear below the intended surface before the planer operator hears a change. A high-angle hand plane, card scraper, or sanding pass leaves more thickness available than repeated aggressive planing.

Back up routed edges and trim end grain before taking the final profile. Climb-cutting can limit breakout in selected situations, but it should be reserved for users who can control the router and workpiece safely.

Drilling and Fastening

Predrill screw and pin holes, particularly near thin edges. A backing board limits exit damage, while frequent bit withdrawal clears hot compacted dust that can scorch the hole or overheat the bit.

Provide proper clearance for knife pins and mechanical fasteners. Forcing an oversized pin into a tight hole can create a hairline split that becomes visible only after final sanding and oiling.

Turning and Carving

Sound ziricote turns with clean, crisp detail and develops a polished surface quickly. Pens, game calls, knobs, bottle stoppers, and small handles make good use of expensive offcuts.

Inspect blank ends before mounting, remove split corners, and begin at a restrained speed. A checked blank may open under centrifugal force, and its weight gives a loose fragment more energy than a light domestic wood.

Carving requires freshly honed edges and short cuts that follow local grain direction. The tool produces firm, compact curls on cooperative grain, then can suddenly lift a brittle chip where the figure reverses.

Gluing and Defect Repair

Ziricote usually glues successfully when joints have a fresh, unburnished surface. Scrape or sand shortly before assembly, remove loose dust with extraction and a clean brush, and avoid soaking the joint with solvent.

PVA suits close-fitting indoor joints, while epoxy handles mixed materials and modest gaps. Cyanoacrylate can secure tiny stable faults, but no adhesive should hide an active check without removing or stabilizing its cause.

Excessive clamp pressure may squeeze too much adhesive from a dense, close-fitting joint. Test the glue on an offcut whenever the surface feels unusually waxy or has been polished by dull machining tools.

Sanding and Finishing

A reliable sanding progression is 120, 150, 180, 220, then 320 grit when the finish schedule calls for it. Dense wood retains coarse scratches, so inspect across the grain under low side lighting between stages.

Oil makes the dark figure deeper and can turn end grain almost black. Shellac works as a sealer, while lacquer or polyurethane supplies a more moisture-resistant film; test each finish on an offcut containing face and end grain.

The following demonstration gives useful visual context for handling and finishing figured stock, though tool setup and protective equipment should match the project and workshop.

Dust and Personal Protection

Ziricote dust may cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation in susceptible people. A lack of earlier symptoms doesn’t guarantee that repeated exposure will remain harmless.

• Capture dust at the saw, sander, router, or lathe.
• Wear a properly fitted particulate respirator.
• Use eye and hearing protection around machinery.
• Cover exposed skin if itching or redness develops.
• Clean with extraction or a HEPA-filtered vacuum rather than compressed air.
• Wash hands before eating or touching the face.

Food-Contact Project Cautions

Don’t assume ziricote is suitable for cutting boards, cups, utensils, or teethers merely because a finish is labeled food-safe. A food-safe finish doesn’t establish that an unfamiliar tropical species is suitable for prolonged food contact.

Checking risk, limited food-contact documentation, cost, and possible sensitivity make familiar domestic species more practical for kitchenware. Reserve ziricote for decorative exterior accents if a food-related design must include it.

Practical Notes From Real-World Use

The largest workshop losses rarely come from ordinary cutting difficulty. They come from checks revealed after layout, overly tight pin holes, and figure placed where shaping removes its strongest visual area.

Before cutting a knife-scale pair, wipe the stock lightly with mineral spirits and trace the handle outline on both faces. The temporary darkening shows where the black figure will sit after finishing, while strong side light reveals surface openings.

Waxed ends deserve extra inspection because thick wax can hide a crack’s starting point. Scrape a small viewing area when the seller permits it, or budget enough length to remove at least the questionable section.

Leave small parts slightly oversized through acclimation and initial flattening. A blank that feels cool against the palm may still carry more moisture than nearby dry stock, though touch is never a substitute for a corrected meter reading.

Buy for the defect-free component you can cut, not for the impressive dimensions printed on the listing.

Workshop selection rule

Ziricote Uses and Project Selection

Ziricote works best where small amounts create impact. Instruments, handles, turned objects, veneer, inlay, and furniture accents exploit its figure without requiring rare, wide, defect-free boards.

Musical Instrument Stock

Common applications include guitar backs and sides, ukulele parts, headplates, bindings, and decorative components. Suitable instrument-grade stock needs adequate dimensions, sound grain, long-term seasoning, and no hidden checks.

Quartering, stiffness, mass, and maker preferences matter alongside species. Descriptions such as “rosewood-like tone” are subjective observations, not standardized performance guarantees.

Knife and Tool Handles

Its hardness, fine texture, and dark figure make ziricote well suited to knife and tool handles. Bookmatched scales place related figure on both sides, while stabilized stock can reduce short-term moisture response in thin parts.

Stabilization won’t repair every structural crack. Keep checks away from pins, leave flattening allowance, and confirm that each scale remains thick enough after removing saw marks or cup.

Turning and Small Crafts

Pens, chess pieces, game calls, jewelry, knobs, handles, and box parts offer high material efficiency. Small layouts can avoid pale sapwood and damaged ends that would lower the yield of a larger component.

Veneer, Marquetry, and Inlay

Veneer delivers broad figure with far less solid wood. Raw veneer suits traditional pressing, while paper-backed, wood-backed, and pressure-sensitive forms offer different balances of flexibility, thickness, and installation speed.

Compare sheet thickness and sequence, not just area. Sequence-matched sheets support mirrored doors or panels, and a stable substrate reduces the movement risk associated with a solid decorative panel.

Furniture and Cabinetry

Drawer fronts, doors, box lids, pulls, tabletop accents, and decorative edging are sensible furniture uses. Large solid-ziricote pieces remain uncommon because wide clear boards carry high prices and lower usable yield.

Pairing it with walnut, maple, or another available structural wood reduces cost and movement risk. The deep figure also complements other dark wood types without requiring every visible surface to match.

Stock Selection by Project

Project	Stock to seek	Main rejection point
Knife scales	Matched, flat pieces with pin allowance	Checks crossing pin locations
Pen	Blank longer than tube after trimming	End split entering the drilled area
Instrument set	Seasoned, matched, correctly oriented stock	Hidden checks or inadequate final width
Veneer panel	Sequence-matched sheets with known backing	Insufficient trim margin
Turned handle	Straight blank with sound ends	Split corners or grain running out sharply
Furniture accent	Figure positioned within final dimensions	Paying for material that layout removes

Usable Yield Allowance

Purchase about 15–30% extra material for small precision projects. Increase that allowance for sapwood-free layouts, mirrored parts, instrument components, or stock with waxed and visibly checked ends.

Yield matters more than raw volume. A matched scale pair may cost far more per cubic inch than random lumber because both halves need compatible figure, color, thickness, and defect-free pin areas.

Rarity, Sustainability, and Trade Status

Ziricote is commercially scarce, yet rarity and legal status aren’t the same issue. Narrow trees, grading loss, drying damage, regional supply, and demand can raise prices without an international trade listing.

CITES Status

As checked in March 2026, Cordia dodecandra isn’t named in the CITES Appendices. Buyers should check again before cross-border shipping because listings and national rules can change.

Absence from CITES doesn’t prove abundance, sustainable harvest, or exemption from customs paperwork. Importers may still need a correct species declaration, invoice, country of origin, and documents required by source-country law.

Conservation Assessments

Conservation labels should include the assessment date and source. Older articles may repeat a category without explaining whether the assessment reflects current population data, habitat loss, or a historical review.

Search Cordia dodecandra directly in the IUCN Red List before publication or a major purchase. National forestry authorities may apply controls that aren’t visible in a global conservation category.

Legal Origin Documentation

Keep invoices stating scientific name, origin, and quantity. For imported stock, retain export or chain-of-custody records supplied by the seller, particularly if the finished item may later cross a national border.

An FSC claim should be supported by a valid certificate and product scope rather than a logo in an advertisement. Salvaged or old-stock claims also need credible records if they affect legality or price.

Responsible Seller Questions

• Is the species confirmed as Cordia dodecandra?
• What is the country of harvest and export?
• Was the stock legally harvested and exported?
• Are chain-of-custody records available?
• Was it kiln-dried, air-dried, or sold green?
• What moisture reading and correction method were used?
• Do checks extend beneath waxed ends?
• Are the photographs of the exact piece?

A seller who answers these questions clearly offers more value than one quoting only a species name and attractive figure. Traceable information reduces the risk of misidentification, concealed defects, and unusable stock.

Ziricote Pricing and Buying Guide

Ziricote is expensive because saleable pieces combine limited supply with high grading losses. Price comparisons need actual dimensions, surfacing, figure, moisture condition, shipping, and expected usable yield.

Price Factors and Grades

Figure intensity, heartwood percentage, width, length, bookmatching, and defect-free area drive price. Instrument and exhibition grades command premiums when sellers document orientation, minimum dimensions, matching, and seasoning rather than applying a vague label.

S4S stock costs more than rough lumber because cutting, drying, surfacing, grading, photography, storage, and rejected material are built into the price. Exact-piece photographs carry real value when figure controls the purchase.

2026 Market Price Ranges

Indicative 2026 retail ranges are $50–$120 or more per board foot for rough or surfaced lumber. Wide, clear, or heavily figured pieces can reach $120–$200 or more per board foot.

Stock form	Typical 2026 retail example	Main price driver
Rough or surfaced lumber	$50–$120+ per board foot	Width, figure, surfacing, and defects
Exceptional figured lumber	$120–$200+ per board foot	Clear width, contrast, and rarity
Knife-scale pair	$20–$60+	Matching, stabilization, and usable thickness
Pen blank	$5–$15 each	Figure, size, and check-free yield
Veneer	Varies widely	Area, thickness, backing, and sequence matching
Instrument stock	Highly variable	Dimensions, orientation, seasoning, and matching

These are market examples rather than fixed quotes. Freight, inventory scarcity, exact dimensions, processing, and seller grading can move a listing outside the range.

Board-Foot Formula

For dimensions measured in inches and feet, use this formula: thickness × width × length in feet, divided by 12. If all dimensions are in inches, multiply them and divide by 144.

Thickness in inches × width in inches × length in feet ÷ 12 = board feet.

Standard lumber-volume formula

A seller may charge surfaced 3/4-inch material as nominal 4/4 lumber. Ask whether pricing uses rough nominal dimensions or the actual finished size shown in the listing.

Effective Cost Example

A blank measuring 0.75 × 4 × 12 inches contains 0.25 board foot based on actual dimensions: 0.75 × 4 × 1 ÷ 12. At $30, its effective material price is $120 per board foot before shipping and waste.

If a checked end and pale edge reduce usable material to 70%, the effective cost rises to about $171 per usable board foot. This calculation explains why a low piece price can still represent expensive material.

Comparing Lumber and Blanks

Compare lumber by board foot, but compare knife scales by finished-handle yield. Pen blanks should be compared by kit-compatible length and section, while veneer is better compared by usable square foot, thickness, and backing.

Small blanks carry higher equivalent prices because the seller has cut, dried, graded, stored, and handled each unit. That premium may still save money if a full board would leave large unusable offcuts.

Moisture and Defect Inspection

Inspect both faces and ends under strong low-angle light. Look for open checks, waxed damage, bark inclusions, cup, twist, saw marks, and cracks hidden within black pigment lines.

Measure moisture after stock reaches room temperature and apply the meter’s density correction. Pinless meters can average material beneath the surface, while short pins may miss a wetter core in thick blanks.

General Buying Checklist

• Confirm Cordia dodecandra as the species.
• Check whether dimensions are actual or nominal.
• Ask for the measured moisture content.
• Inspect the exact piece from both faces and ends.
• Calculate sapwood and defect-free yield.
• Add shipping to the effective cost.
• Check return terms for cracks or misidentified stock.
• Buy 15–30% extra for precision layouts.

The lowest listed price rarely produces the lowest finished-component cost. Usable yield and documentation are better buying measures than raw volume alone.

Ziricote Stock for Small Projects

Small-project stock lets buyers use ziricote’s figure without purchasing a full board. Match the blank to the finished dimensions and inspect every delivered piece before layout or machining.

Knife and Tool Handles

These product listings provide examples of bookmatched and natural scales for knife or tool-handle projects; compare exact dimensions, stabilization claims, and visible checks before ordering.

Photographs don’t replace inspection after delivery. Check pin locations, flattening allowance, moisture condition, and whether “stabilized” refers to true resin treatment or is being used loosely to describe dried wood.

Boards, Blanks, and Veneer

These listings show boards, turning blanks, and veneer in formats suited to pens, game calls, handles, inlay, and other compact builds.

Choose the smallest format that supplies the required defect-free dimensions. Verify whether listed measurements are minimum, nominal, or exact, and use veneer where figure matters more than solid thickness.

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