This video has been getting AI accusations and it isn’t! All these types of woods exist! Though some of them are local names, I was able to track all of them down! Here are all the woods shown in the video!
Purpleheart Wood: Peltogyne genus, native to Central and South American rainforests. Freshly cut it’s light brown, then turns into rich shades of purple. It turns brown in UV light so it has to be finished with a UV inhibitor to keep those gorgeous colors.
Namnu (various): A type of precious wood found in China/South Asia, sourced from various different species of trees, hence the different examples shown here. High grades of the wood are known for the optical effect shown in the video. Unfortunately the types of trees that produce the wood are all critically endangered, which is why the examples shown are all items or pillars or fragments of pieces. The species are all strictly protected and new trees cannot be harvested.
That example in the video is just that one video that goes around with the inside of a tree that’s been struck burning while it still stands, but sometimes trees that have been struck by lightning and are cut down can have neat burn patterns in the wood (example), as the lightning goes to ground, so some people might want that. Who am I to judge.
Chicken-blood vine wood: Species isSpatholobus suberectus and it’s only that bright when it’s cut, it dries to a more woody color. Here’s a page with examples of what the wood looks like when it’s dried and some things made with it.
Amber wood: This one took a while. There’s a video out there claiming this is “petrified amber wood”. That’s not possible, I’m a geologist I would know. Since the video is in Chinese originally I presume, “amber wood” must be a translated local name. It’s sandalwood, which has that gorgeous bright red color. Even tracked down the video the clip is taken from. “Chandan wood” is another name for sandalwood. Which smells amazing.
Rosewood: The most well known of the woods here in my opinion. There’s a number of rosewoods, all in various shades of pinks and reds. True rosewoods are from the genus Dalbergia. Sadly they’re all endangered, but illegal harvesting continues.
Pink oak - Likely pink ivory (Phyllogeiton zeyheri). You need a permit to cut down one of these trees, but it really is that pink. One of the most expensive woods in the world, up there with sandalwood.
Burmese huanghuali: Rosewood…3! This is either Dalbergia oliveri or Pterocarpus indicus, but given that Pterocarpus indicus is descripted as having purplish heartwood, I’m guessing it’s Dalbergia oliveri. Though it’s not a true rosewood, Pterocarpus indicus is also sadly endangered.
Liudao wood: This is Abelia biflora, though it looks like it has been reclassified as Zabelia biflora recently. Either it only looks like that when the bark is being peeled or it’s the lighting in the videos. BUT this wood is used in making Buddhist prayer beads because of both its grain pattern connects to philosophy and its mention in Tibetan Buddhist texts.
Thank you for all that work!! I recognized some of the woods (since my siblings in law woodwork) but not all of them, and was going to look into them when I woke up, but you’ve gone and brought up all the treasure from the rabbit hole!
