Bahia Purpleheart
Scientific name: Peltogyne chrysopis
Overview
Bahia Purpleheart is a tropical hardwood native to eastern Brazil, particularly the state of Bahia. Peltogyne chrysopis belongs to the Fabaceae family and the Peltogyne genus, the botanical group responsible for the distinctive woods collectively traded as Purpleheart.
Freshly exposed heartwood may initially appear brownish, reddish brown, gray-brown, or only faintly violet. After exposure to oxygen and light, the wood can develop stronger violet and purple coloration. Continued ultraviolet exposure and aging may eventually shift the brilliant purple toward darker violet, purplish brown, or brown.
Bahia Purpleheart is a dense, hard hardwood with considerable decorative potential. Its unusual coloration and ability to take a smooth polished surface make it particularly interesting for furniture accents, turning, carving, inlay, decorative boxes, handles, and documented wood collections.
Quick Facts
- Common Name: Bahia Purpleheart
- Scientific Name: Peltogyne chrysopis
- Region: South American Woods
- Native Range: Eastern Brazil, particularly Bahia
- Tree Size: Medium to large tropical hardwood; mature dimensions vary according to habitat and growing conditions
- Average Dried Weight: Reliable standardized species-specific value is not widely documented
- Janka Hardness: Reliable standardized species-specific value is not widely documented
- Grain: Straight to interlocked or irregular
- Texture: Fine to medium
Identification Characteristics
Bahia Purpleheart is most notable for the color transformation that occurs after its heartwood is exposed.
Freshly surfaced material can appear surprisingly subdued, with brown, reddish-brown, grayish, or muted violet coloration. Exposure to oxygen and ultraviolet light encourages stronger purple tones to develop.
Over extended periods, those colors can darken toward deep violet, purple-brown, and eventually darker brown tones.
Sapwood is generally pale cream to yellowish brown and provides strong contrast with the colored heartwood.
Key identification traits include:
- Brown to reddish-brown freshly exposed heartwood
- Purple coloration develops following exposure
- Violet to deep purple mature surfaces
- Older surfaces may become purplish brown
- Pale cream to yellowish sapwood
- Strong heartwood and sapwood contrast
- Straight to interlocked grain
- Fine to medium texture
Working Properties
Bahia Purpleheart can be challenging to machine because of its density, hardness, and potentially interlocked grain.
Sharp cutting tools are important, while carbide tooling can be beneficial during repeated machining. Reversing fibers may produce tear-out during planing and routing.
Excessive friction should be minimized because dense hardwood can generate considerable heat during cutting and sanding. Light passes and careful grain evaluation generally improve surface quality.
- High cutting resistance
- Sharp tools are recommended
- Carbide tooling can be beneficial
- Interlocked grain may produce tear-out
- Turns well with appropriate tooling
- Sands and polishes attractively
- Pre-drilling is recommended for fasteners
Safety Note
Wood dust from Purpleheart species may cause skin, eye, or respiratory irritation in sensitive individuals. Repeated exposure can potentially increase sensitivity.
Effective dust extraction, eye protection, respiratory protection, and appropriate skin protection are recommended during sawing, routing, turning, carving, and sanding.
Common Uses
Where appropriately sourced material is available, Bahia Purpleheart’s coloration, hardness, density, and decorative appearance make it suitable for:
- Decorative furniture
- Furniture accents
- Cabinetry
- Inlay
- Wood turning
- Carving
- Decorative boxes
- Handles
- Small specialty objects
- Collector specimens
Sustainability & Notes
Bahia Purpleheart is especially significant because of its geographically restricted Brazilian distribution. Unlike a generic commercial Purpleheart designation that may encompass material from several countries and species, Peltogyne chrysopis is associated particularly with eastern Brazil.
This makes accurate identification and geographic provenance especially important.
Multiple Peltogyne species can enter international timber markets simply as Purpleheart, meaning a commercial board displaying purple coloration cannot automatically be identified as Peltogyne chrysopis.
Responsible forest management, habitat protection, legal harvesting, natural regeneration, and transparent sourcing should be prioritized whenever obtaining species-level Purpleheart material.
Comparative Notes & Related Species
Pau Roxo do Campo – Peltogyne campestris, another Brazilian member of the Purpleheart group useful for documenting species-level diversity within the genus.
Pau Roxo da Vargem – Peltogyne densiflora, a separately identified Purpleheart species providing another useful comparison within Peltogyne.
Maranhao Purpleheart – A geographically named Brazilian Purpleheart that provides a particularly useful regional comparison with Bahia Purpleheart.
Related Guides
Purpleheart Species Guide
Explore the individual Peltogyne species represented within the Purpleheart group and compare their distribution, identification, appearance, and wood characteristics.
How to Identify Wood by End Grain Patterns
Learn how pores, rays, vessel arrangement, growth boundaries, and other anatomical characteristics can help distinguish hardwood specimens.
Color Changes in Tropical Hardwoods Over Time
Explore how oxygen, ultraviolet exposure, natural extractives, and aging influence the appearance of highly colored tropical hardwoods.
Finishing Oils vs. Polyurethane on Exotic Species
Compare how different finishing systems influence color depth, grain contrast, surface protection, and long-term appearance.
Identifying Unknown Wood Samples
Learn how color, density, grain, texture, end grain, geographic provenance, and other characteristics can help narrow the identity of unfamiliar wood.
Compare Wood Properties
See how this species ranks in density and hardness using our Wood Density & Janka Hardness Chart. You can also explore Hardest Woods, Softest Woods, and Most Dense Woods for quick comparisons.
Collector Notes
Bahia Purpleheart is particularly valuable for collectors because geographic provenance is central to documenting the species properly.
An authenticated specimen with documented Bahia origin can provide substantially greater botanical value than generic material sold simply as Purpleheart. Recording the wood’s coloration when freshly surfaced and again after exposure can further increase its educational value.
Collector specimens should retain the scientific name Peltogyne chrysopis, geographic origin, acquisition date, source, and any supporting identification documentation.
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When submitting photos, please include the common name, scientific name (if known), a brief description, and any information you would like us to share with the image.
Wood Sample Collection
This species is part of an ongoing effort to document and preserve wood samples from around the world.
Learn more about contributing to the collection:
Resources
Authoritative botanical and forestry references used in compiling information about this species include:
• USDA Forest Service – Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material
https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/products/publications/
• The Wood Database – Global reference for wood identification, physical properties, and woodworking characteristics
https://www.wood-database.com/
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – Plants of the World Online – Botanical taxonomy and species distribution database
https://powo.science.kew.org/
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN Red List) – Global conservation status assessments
https://www.iucnredlist.org/
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) – International trade regulations for protected plant species
https://cites.org/
Additional forestry publications, academic research papers, and regional timber studies may also be referenced where available.
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Availability & Where to Buy
Exotic hardwood availability can vary significantly depending on region, sustainability regulations, and supplier inventory.
As this archive grows, recommended suppliers and specialty wood retailers will be listed here to help woodworkers locate responsibly sourced material.
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Availability varies — see the Where to Buy Exotic Woods page for current sources.
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