Despite the shared name, these are unrelated woods at opposite ends of the hardness scale. American cherry is a true cherry — refined, satiny, and soft at Janka 950, happiest in bedrooms and formal rooms. Brazilian cherry is jatoba, a tropical legume rated 2350 — nearly twice as hard as red oak — built for high-traffic family life. Both are photosensitive: they darken with light, so buy the color each will become, not the color in the box.
“Cherry” is doing a lot of work in flooring showrooms. It names one of America's most beloved furniture woods — and, separately, a South American import that borrowed the label purely because its color reminded someone of cherry furniture. Homeowners comparing the two as if they were variations of one wood end up surprised in both directions: by how easily one dents, and by how stubbornly the other resists everything, including color changes you might want. Here's the real comparison.
Start With What Surprises People
Brazilian “cherry” is jatoba, a tropical legume — botanically closer to a bean plant than to any cherry tree. It earned the name from color alone; American cherry is the genuine fruit-tree wood.
the Janka gap. American cherry is among the softest hardwoods used on floors; jatoba is one of the hardest woods in the trade — a 2.5× difference you can feel with a fingernail.
both woods are photosensitive: instead of fading in sunlight like oak, they deepen — American cherry toward rich russet, jatoba toward deep brick red. The floor you install is the lightest it will ever be.
Side by Side
| American cherry | Brazilian cherry (jatoba) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | True cherry — the classic furniture wood | Tropical legume; “cherry” by color only |
| Janka hardness | 950 — dents readily | 2350 — near the top of the scale |
| Color journey | Light pinkish-tan → warm russet over years | Salmon-orange → deep brick red, fastest in the first year |
| Grain | Fine, straight, satiny — glows in low light | Interlocked, bold, high contrast |
| Takes stain? | Poorly — blotch-prone; finish it natural | Barely — too dense; the wood picks its own color |
| Best rooms | Bedrooms, studies, formal living, low-heel households | Kitchens, halls, family rooms, dog traffic |
| Availability | Specialty/special order | Special order; was a 1990s–2000s staple |
Hardness in Real Life, Not on Paper
At 950 Janka, American cherry sits below walnut and far below oak. In a formal living room that means nothing; in a kitchen it means every dropped pan and grit-heeled boot writes a small dent into the floor. Cherry owners who love their floors tend to describe the accumulating marks as patina — if that sentence made you wince, cherry is the wrong wood for your busy rooms. Jatoba is the opposite story: at 2350 it out-hardens hard maple by a wide margin, and dents are rare events. One honest caveat — hardness protects against dents, not scratches. Jatoba's finish layer scuffs like any other, and against that dark red base, scuffs show. A satin sheen and felt pads matter more on dark exotics than on pale oak.
The Color Story: Buy the Destination, Not the Departure
Most woods fade toward gray in sunlight. These two do the reverse. American cherry deepens gradually for years — the freshly sanded floor looks almost pink, then earns its famous depth. Jatoba moves faster and further, doing most of its darkening in the first year. Practical consequences: keep area rugs off both floors for the first months (or rotate them) so the color develops evenly, and never judge either species by the pale board at the top of a freshly opened box. If you already live on jatoba, our owner's guide to Brazilian cherry floors covers managing that color in detail.
Which Cherry Belongs in Your Home?
Choose American cherry when the room is gentle and the goal is warmth you can't fake: studies, main bedrooms, formal spaces where its satiny figure catches lamplight like furniture. Choose jatoba when you want saturated, dramatic color that laughs at traffic — or skip both and note that a mid-brown stain on white oak gets surprisingly close to the cherry palette with easier maintenance and unlimited future color options, a trade-off we walk through in our species guide. Around Puget Sound we mostly meet these woods in place rather than in showrooms: jatoba installed during its '90s–2000s heyday in Eastside homes, cherry in studies and dining rooms of higher-end builds. Both refinish beautifully in experienced hands — cherry demands gentleness, jatoba demands sharp abrasives and patience.
Whichever direction you lean, insist on seeing a real board in the actual room, at morning and evening light — cherry's glow and jatoba's saturation both shift more with lighting than any domestic species, and a decision made under showroom fluorescents is a decision made about a different floor.
American vs Brazilian Cherry — What People Ask
Is Brazilian cherry actually related to American cherry?
How big is the hardness difference between the two cherries?
Does American cherry dent too easily for a family home?
Do both cherries change color after installation?
Can either cherry be stained a different color?
Which cherry suits a modern interior better?
Why does my cherry sample look lighter than the photos online?
Which of the two costs more to buy?
Can jatoba and American cherry floors be refinished?
Comparing Cherries? We'll Bring the Samples to You
See both woods in your own light, next to your trim and cabinets, with straight advice on hardness and color change — free in-home consultations across King & Snohomish County.
Related reading: Owning a Brazilian cherry floor · Choosing the right wood species · Hardwood installation
