How hard is kiawe wood?

Kiawe has a Janka hardness of 2330 lbf (10,360 N), making it a very dense, hard wood. That reference figure is a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value measured at 12% moisture content.

Is kiawe suitable for outdoor use?

Yes. Kiawe heartwood is very durable, resisting decay, termites, and marine borers about as well as anything milled here, which is why it is used for posts. The pale yellow sapwood, however, is non-durable.

What is kiawe wood used for?

Kiawe is used for flooring, turnings, small furniture, cutting boards, tool handles, and posts, as well as Hawaiian charcoal and smoke wood for grilling. It machines, turns, and carves to a fine surface once you have clear stock, though knots, included bark, and ring shake make clear stock the hard part.

ExoticProsopis pallida

Kiawe

Invasive in Hawaiʻi since 1828. The grilling wood. The honey wood. The problem.

Kiawe (Prosopis pallida) is an exotic hardwood with a Janka hardness of 2330 lbf. Its heartwood ranges from reddish brown to deep chocolate with darker streaks and lighter banding, and it is very durable, resisting decay, termites, and marine borers.

Category: Exotic
Janka: 2,330 lbf
Botanical: Prosopis pallida
Shipped at: 6–8% MC

Prosopis pallida Hawaiian Mesquite · Hawaiian Mesquite · Native to the dry Pacific coast of Peru

Native to the dry Pacific coast of Peru.

Complicated cultural spot in Hawaii — historically valued for shade, honey, firewood, and grilling, currently a serious invasive. Heartwood reddish brown to deep chocolate, often with darker streaks and lighter banding.

Detail of Kiawe grain — figured wood texture, photographed at Raw Heartwood — A close read on the grain. Detail of this specimen

What you see.

Heartwood reddish brown to deep chocolate, often with darker streaks and lighter banding. Pale yellow sapwood, sharp line. Color and figure can swing wildly across boards from the same tree.

Heartwood color detail of Kiawe (Prosopis pallida)

Heartwood, this specimen

How the grain runs.

Irregular. Interlocked. Often wavy — the tree grows gnarled and the wood shows it. Medium texture, good luster. Knots, included bark, and ring shake come with the territory.

Closer in

On the bench.

Very durable. Resists decay, termites, and marine borers about as well as anything we mill. Sapwood is non-durable. Dense but stable. Machines, turns, and carves to a fine surface once you get clear stock — and clear stock is the hard part. Sharp tooling. Glues and finishes well. Dry it slow or it checks. Mild and slightly sweet at the cut. The smoke is the defining flavor of Hawaiian grilling. Live-tree thorns are the main hazard. Dust occasionally irritates skin and lungs. Otherwise nothing notable.

The numbers, looked at directly.

Janka Hardness

0lbf

10,360 N. Side-hardness — force to embed a half-inch steel ball halfway into the wood.

Average Dried Weight

0lbs/ft³

830 kg/m³. At 12% MC.

Specific Gravity

0.66/ 0.83 at 12% MC

Basic over green volume; second number at 12% moisture content.

Hardness, in context

A side-hardness measurement. Higher number, harder wood.

Shrinkage — radial / tangential / volumetric

2.2%radial

3.3%tangential

5.0%volumetric

On sourcing

Listed invasive in Hawaiʻi. Cutting it is a sustainability win.

Not on CITES. IUCN Least Concern. Listed as invasive by the Hawaii Invasive Species Council. It runs lowland dry-forest areas and pushes out native plants. Cutting it for lumber, charcoal, or firewood is an ecological win — supply is essentially unlimited and harvesting is encouraged.

What it's for.

Flooring
Hawaiian charcoal
Turnings
Small furniture
Cutting boards
Tool handles
Posts
Smoke wood

Worth knowing.

Complicated cultural spot in Hawaii — historically valued for shade, honey, firewood, and grilling, currently a serious invasive. Every kiawe in Hawaii reputedly traces back to one 1828 mission tree planted in Honolulu. One of the great founder-event invasions on record.

Sources & references.

Prosopis pallida — Wikipedia contributors
Kiawe (Prosopis pallida) — Hawaii Invasive Species Council / DLNR
Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) — The Wood Database
Prosopis pallida — Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
Prosopis pallida (kiawe) — Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry — Pasiecznik, N.M.; Harris, P.J.C.; Smith, S.J. (2006)
Kiawe in Hawaii — CTAHR, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Prosopis pallida — CABI Invasive Species Compendium

Common questions.

How hard is kiawe wood?: Kiawe has a Janka hardness of 2330 lbf (10,360 N), making it a very dense, hard wood. That reference figure is a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value measured at 12% moisture content.
Is kiawe suitable for outdoor use?: Yes. Kiawe heartwood is very durable, resisting decay, termites, and marine borers about as well as anything milled here, which is why it is used for posts. The pale yellow sapwood, however, is non-durable.
What is kiawe wood used for?: Kiawe is used for flooring, turnings, small furniture, cutting boards, tool handles, and posts, as well as Hawaiian charcoal and smoke wood for grilling. It machines, turns, and carves to a fine surface once you have clear stock, though knots, included bark, and ring shake make clear stock the hard part.

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