Panga-Panga- Oiltree
Millettia stuhlmannii

Where does it grow?
West Africa, mainly in Zairo, Cameroon, Congo, in tropical lowland rain forests, mostly in wet soil of Central Congo Basin, it usually grows sporadic, sometimes in small groups.

Look
Its sapwood is white to grey-white, sap is only 1.4 to 6cm wide, heartwood is in two tints of light brown, it slowly gets dark to coffee brown or black-purple. Due to c. 0.5mm wide bunches of longwise parenchyma it is light brown grained, similar to palisander and very decorative. The wood has even funiculus and irregular, rustic texture.

Qualities
Its compactness is 830 kg/m3 when dried, it becomes dry very slowly and the measure of deformation is very small. When used it is very form stabile. It is very bad for bending, but very resistant against abrasion. Mechanical and manual working of this durable wood is very good. Cells containing resin can cause difficulties when gluing and lacquering, the solving can be filling of surface disparity. It is wonderfully resistant against abrasion and that is why it isvery suitable for production of flooring. It is used in all types of interior and exterior cabinet making work and in civil engineering. Nice decorative carved veeners.