A zone of wood in the center of a tree that has darkened due to fungal infection, frost, or mineral uptake, making it look like natural heartwood. Unlike true heartwood, falseheart does not possess natural decay resistance and is often structurally inferior, which can downgrade the value of the lumber at the mill.
Heard on the job
The buyer rejected the maple load because half the logs had falseheart instead of clean white sapwood.
Also heard as
- false heartwood
- mineral stain