purpleheart
LEXIS
This tree species is considered endangered.
Purpleheart or amaranth is the collective name of various species of the genus of South American, tropical Peltogyne woods. Their heartwood is hard, dense, durable and turns violet when exposed to light. It is therefore used for furniture, and floors, but also sides, backs, and fretboards of guitars and ukuleles.
Appraisal
Atrociously brittle and unforgiving wood … I have just finished making a wedding gift (not a ukulele) and ended up having to back-mill this stuff because it kept exploding! I've seen some people use it but I will never again. 40 years working wood, all types and this is the first time I have felt such animosity to a species.
I've had a lot of success using purpleheart primarily as a laminate in maple necks (I've made thousands of them), but have also made uke bridges and fingerboards out of it for my „Build Uke“ courses. It's great as a color accent, it laminates well, but I think it has a fairly high damping factor compared to other really hard woods.