Cavanillesia platanifolia a.k.a. Bongo Tree

General Discussion
1

I recently moved from Costa Rica to Panamá and was asking the locals here in Pedasí, Panamá, if they had any balsa growing in the area. They said yes, but that they have another type of tree that they claim is even lighter than balsa.  They call it Bongo. Needless to say, I’m very interested. Turns out the latin name is Cavanillesia platanifolia. 

Anyone ever heard of this tree before… worked with it at all? When I get my hands on some, I’ll be sure to update the post for all those wood lovers out there.

2

Never heard of it… but if you want to read up:

http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/1239/FPL_1511ocr.pdf?sequence=1

 

3

Not sure how the hell you found this report, but it was worth the read. Thanks for posting, Keith.

From what I could tell, the two are virtually the same, but sounds like Balsa might be a slight bit nicer on the eyes. We’ll see for sure when I get my hands on some.