Castelo, Palo Blanco (Calycophyllum multiflorum) is a tree native to tropical South America and southern Brazil, where it reaches heights of about 20 metres. Its fine, very dense and heavy wood is often used as a substitute for the rare European boxwood, as the occurrence and available trunk diameters are larger and more flawless than this one. The dry wood weighs about 850 kg/m3, Castelo is almost as dense, hard, fine-pored and firm as real boxwood, the pale yellow colour and its excellent working properties make it very similar to European boxwood. Castelo is an excellent carving and turning wood, which is well suited for very fine details. It is very popular in model making because of its fineness and density. The wood is easy to polish and can be polished to a high gloss with wax. Castelo has gained a firm place in woodwind instrument making due to its many good qualities; it is often used for flutes.
