Tzalam is a tropical wood that grows in the south of Mexico but it also grows in other tropical regions such as Central America, South Florida and the Bahamas. This species is also called Caribbean Walnut.

This wood can have different types of color or tones, the most common color is a mixture between red and yellow, which ends up giving the furniture a cinnamon like tone

Workability: Overall working properties are good, though Tzalam may blunt tool edges faster than usual. Turns, glues, and finishes well. Able to take a high natural polish.

Tzalam is a very heavy and dense wood, which means that making furniture using this type of wood is not that simple since it requires a lot of manual labor. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make beautiful furniture with this type of wood.

A very important feature of this wood is the fact that during its growing process, the tzalam tree throws seeds around its circumference which allows other tzalam trees to grow in the same area. This is why Caribbean Walnut wood can be considered as “sustainable”. The tzalam tree plays a very important role in areas where the soil has been damaged or burnt since its enriches the soil with nitrogen.

Caribbean Walnut wood is so strong and resistant to weather conditions, water, and humidity, that lately, many docks in Mexico have been built with tzalam. Tzalam wood doesn’t lose its color the same way teak or other types of woods used for outdoor furniture do.

Lysiloma bahamense has a warranty of at least 10 years, which means that with proper maintenance, this furniture can maintain its color and quality for 10 years or more!

Tonal Qualities are reported to be good. In 1999 Martin Guitars released 30 Dreadnoughts utilizing Tzalam Back and Sides before tombstoning the effort due to production complications.