What is the difference between xianmu and tiemu? A quick guide to telling them apart

Xianmu and tiemu are the same tree species with no difference; it is just that each region calls it differently. Tiemu is the scientific name, and xianmu is an alternative name, commonly used for making cutting boards.

1. What are the advantages of making cutting boards from tiemu?

1. Lift the cutting board with your hand; if it feels heavier than ordinary wood, this cutting board may be a tiemu cutting board; if it does not feel very heavy, this cutting board is made of other miscellaneous wood.

2. If the tiemu cutting board is treated by high-temperature and high-pressure steaming, soaking in concentrated salt water, and soaking in peanut oil, the factors that cause the cutting board to crack can be eliminated to the greatest extent, thereby greatly enhancing the cutting board's crack resistance.

3. Because “tiemu” has a long tree age and fine, dense, and hard wood fibers, cutting boards made from it have the advantages of not shedding cutting board mud, being clean and hygienic, and having a long service life. The darker and redder the color, the better the quality; those with a marble-like grain on the cross-section and a dark blue-green color are even harder than iron.

2. What is the timber value of tiemu?

Tiemu has a dense texture, is hard and heavy, sinks immediately when placed in water, and is as hard as steel. When struck, it can emit a clanging sound like metal. Felling and processing it are extremely difficult, and even nails cannot be driven into it. It can be said to be a “bulletproof” steel-like timber. The reason tiemu is so hard is not only that it grows very slowly and has a dense grain, but also because it mostly grows in limestone mountainous areas. In order to absorb nutrients, its roots penetrate deeply into rock crevices, absorb many calcium minerals, and accumulate them in the wood, thus becoming especially hard. Tiemu timber has a reddish, moist luster, does not bend, does not crack, and is water-resistant and rot-resistant, making it a high-grade, high-quality timber.

In addition, the domestic population of tiemu has been declining for the past 30 years, and due to human felling, natural regeneration is poor, and it has shown a gradually endangered status, and has been listed as a national second-class protected plant. So, everyone, do not cut or fell it indiscriminately.