Appearance:

Color: Heartwood ranges from a deep, rich dark brown to a purplish black. Sapwood is nearly white to tan. Difference between heartwood and sapwood color is great; some flooring manufacturers steam lumber to bleed the darker hardwood color into the sapwood resulting in a more uniform color. .

Grain: Mostly straight and open, but some boards have burled or curly grain. Arrangement of pores is similar to hickories and persimmon, but pores are similar in size.

Properties:

Hardness/Janka: 1010 (22% softer than Northern red oak)

Dimensional Stability: Average (7.8; 9% more stable than Northern red oak).
Origin: North America