One of the hardest woods in the world, ipé is found throughout Central and South America, although most commercial wood comes from Brazil. While the tree itself is large, defect-free sections for veneers are relatively small. Extremely dark, the colors can vary from reddish-brown to green-black with subtle but distinctive stripes. Flat cut veneer produces the characteristic cathedral grain. Quartered, it can produce a plain or broken stripe figure.
