Lignum vitae is a wood, also called guayacan or guaiacum, and in parts of Europe known as Pockholz or pokhout, from trees of the genus Guaiacum. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America and have been an important export crop to Europe since the beginning of the 16th century. The wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness, and density. It is also the national tree of the Bahamas, and the Jamaican national flower.
Guaiacum, sometimes spelled Guajacum, is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of slow-growing shrubs and trees, reaching a height of approximately 20 m (66 ft) but usually less than half of that. All are native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas and are commonly known as lignum-vitae, guayacán (Spanish), or gaïac (French). The genus name originated in Taíno, the language spoken by the native Taínos of the Bahamas; it was adopted into English in 1533, the first word in that language of American origin.
Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water, although usage of the name ironwood in English may or may not indicate a tree that yields such heavy wood.
Amelanchier arborea, is native to eastern North America from the Gulf Coast north to Thunder Bay in Ontario and Lake St. John in Quebec, and west to Texas and Minnesota.
The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden is a frost-free arboretum and botanical garden containing a collection of trees, shrubs, and palms, including several "champion tree" specimens. It is located on Stock Island in the municipality of Key West, Florida, United States. It is open daily. There is a nominal fee for admission, with free admission for locals on the first Sunday of every month.
The Donald E. Davis Arboretum, in Auburn, Alabama, United States, is a public native plants museum, and botanical arboretum with educational facilities, event spaces, and a conservation program. Its grounds, covering 13.5 acres of Auburn University's campus, include cataloged living collections of associated tree and plant communities representative of Alabama's ecosystems, among which is mixed oak forest, carnivorous bog, and longleaf pine savanna. The living collections include more than 1,000 plant types, including 500 different plant species, with over 3,000 cataloged specimens. The Arboretum contains over a mile (2 km) of interwoven walking trails that meander through various southeastern biotopes.
Bulnesia sarmientoi is a tree that inhabits a part of the Gran Chaco area in South America, around the Argentina-Bolivia-Paraguay border. Its wood is often traded as "Paraguay lignum vitae", since it has properties and uses similar to the "true" lignum vitae trees of genus Guaiacum, which are close relatives. Another trade name is "vera" or "verawood", which may also refer to the even more closely related B. arborea. Another common but rather ambiguous name is palo santo, which it shares with the species Bursera graveolens.
Guaiacum officinale, commonly known as roughbark lignum-vitae, guaiacwood or gaïacwood, is a species of tree in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae, that is native to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America.
Bulnesia is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. The wood of some – particularly B. arborea and B. sarmientoi – is traded as verawood or "lignum vitae". They are close relatives of the "true" lignum vitae trees of genus Guaiacum.
The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens includes botanical gardens, natural areas with trails, and several research-quality habitats and is part of the organization Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. The conservatory is popular year round. The public entrance is at 1800 North Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The grounds are open every day, but trails are not maintained in the winter. The conservatory, garden store, and lobby are open 7 days a week. The building complex is only closed on three holidays a year.
Vaccinium arboreum is a species of Vaccinium native to the southeastern and south-central United States, from southern Virginia west to southeastern Nebraska, south to Florida and eastern Texas, and north to Illinois.
Cleome houtteana, commonly known as spider flower, spider plant, pink queen, or grandfather's whiskers, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cleome of the family Cleomaceae, native to southern South America in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southeast Brazil. It has also been introduced to South Asia, including the Haor area of Bangladesh and India.
Lignumvitae Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys.
Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae. It has about 250 species. Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to V. agnus-castus, but often applied to other species, as well.
Freycinetia arborea, ʻIeʻie, is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to the Pacific Islands. ʻIeʻie is found in moist forest on the Hawaiian, Marquesas, Austral, Society, and Cook Islands. It grows into the forest canopy, attaching itself to a host tree using aerial roots. It may also grow as a sprawling tangle on the forest floor. The shiny green leaves have pointed ends and are spiny on the lower side of the midrib and along the edges. Leaves measure 40–80 centimetres (16–31 in) long and 1–3 centimetres (0.39–1.18 in) wide, and are spirally arranged around the ends of branches. Flowers form on spike-like inflorescences at the end of branches, and are either staminate or pistillate. Staminate spikes are yellowish-white and up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length. Pistillate spikes are 3–4 centimetres (1.2–1.6 in) but elongate to 7.5–9.5 centimetres (3.0–3.7 in) once fruit are produced. Three to four spikes are surrounded by orange-salmon bracts. Fruit is 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long and contains many 1.5-millimetre (0.059 in) seeds. The bracts and fruit of the ʻieʻie were a favorite food of the ʻōʻū, an extinct Hawaiian honeycreeper that was formerly a principal seed dispersal vector for plants with small seeded, fleshy fruits in low elevation forests. It is also a favored food of the ʻalalā, which is currently extinct in the wild.
Gmelina is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. It consists of about 35 species in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Southeast Asia, India and a few in Africa. Some species such as G. arborea have been planted and/or become naturalised in India, Africa and Australia. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in honour of botanist Johann Georg Gmelin.
Rhododendron arboreum, the tree rhododendron, is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a showy display of bright red flowers. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand. It is the national flower of Nepal. In India it is the state tree of Uttarakhand and state flower of Nagaland.
Guaiacum angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. Common names include Texas guaiacum, Texas lignum-vitae, soapbush and huayacán. It is native to southern and western Texas in the United States and northern Mexico. The specific name is derived from the Latin angustus, meaning "narrow," and -folius, meaning "-leaved".
Brugmansia arborea, the angel's trumpet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. The IUCN has classed Brugmansia arborea as Extinct in the Wild.
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Gonopterodendron arboreum in bloom in Mounts Botanical Garden
Gonopterodendron arboreum in bloom in Mounts Botanical Garden
Gonopterodendron arboreum in bloom in Mounts Botanical Garden
Media related to Bulnesia arborea at Wikimedia Commons