Parrotia Persica

[gcusick]

I’ve been offered some branches of parrotia persica - Persian Ironwood - by a friend who has just had a tree reduced. I can’t find any decent references to working this species. Wondered if the collective wisdom here could throw any light.

Of course, the advice may be to light a fire and throw it on!

Thanks
Geoff

 

[alex robinson]

Sounds an interesting timber, apparently "excellent for tool handles, telegraph poles, bridge construction and for burning or charcoal production" so you are onto a winner either making something or burning it. Looks as if it very dense (870kg / m3) and with a very fine structure so may take detail well (pictures in this paper). There is a suggestion in an arbtalk thread that it may be one of the hardest timbers growing in the UK.

 

[Tris]

There are three forms usually grown in the UK, one a multi stemmed shrub, one a mid sized tree with long horizontal branches, and the third a more conventional tree. I think if you get the second one you will see a lot of reaction wood in branch timber when you process it.
I felled one a couple of years back and it was tough on the chainsaw teeth, didn't keep any to experiment with unfortunately