Greenheart (Chlorocardium rodiei) is a benchmark marine timber from Guyana, specified when strength and long-term durability in wet service are non-negotiable. It’s extremely dense and tough, with heartwood colours that can range from yellow-green and olive through to very dark brown—often with dramatic variation within a single board.
Its reputation comes from performance: outstanding resistance to decay, insects and marine borers, plus the kind of mechanical strength needed for harbour works and heavy structures. The wood is hard on tools and doesn’t take nails willingly (pre-boring is standard), but it can still be worked to a smooth, lustrous surface with sharp cutters and patient machining.
Greenheart is rarely chosen for decorative interior woodworking; it’s a specification timber for jetties, lock gates, piling, groynes and other infrastructure that lives wet and gets abused. If a design brief reads “must survive,” greenheart is one of the species engineers reach for first.