Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic material – a natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or woodchips or fiber.
Ceiba is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to 70 m (230 ft) tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is Kapok, Ceiba pentandra, one of several trees called kapok.
Haematoxylin or hematoxylin, also called natural black 1 or C.I. 75290, is a compound extracted from heartwood of the logwood tree with a chemical formula of C
16H
14O
6. This naturally derived dye has been used as a histologic stain, ink and as a dye in the textile and leather industry. As a dye, haematoxylin has been called Palo de Campeche, logwood extract, bluewood and blackwood. In histology, haematoxylin staining is commonly followed (counterstained), with eosin, when paired, this staining procedure is known as H&E staining, and is one of the most commonly used combinations in histology. In addition to its use in the H&E stain, haematoxylin is also a component of the Papanicolaou stain which is widely used in the study of cytology specimens.
Tamarind is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae.
Paubrasilia echinata is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood and is the national tree of Brazil. This plant has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high shine, and it is the premier wood used for making bows for stringed instruments. The wood also yields a red dye called brazilin, which oxidizes to brazilein.
Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood of Central American trees belonging to the genus Dalbergia. Only the heartwood of cocobolo is used; it is usually orange or reddish-brown, often with darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The heartwood changes color after being cut, and can be polished to a lustrous, glassy finish; being quite dense, sometimes having a specific gravity of over 1.0, it will sink in water. The sapwood is a creamy yellow, with a sharp boundary between it and the heartwood.
Haematoxylum campechianum is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to southern Mexico, and introduced to the Caribbean, northern Central America, and other localities around the world. The tree was of great economic importance from the 17th century to the 19th century, when it was commonly logged and exported to Europe for use in dyeing fabrics. The modern nation of Belize developed from 17th- and 18th-century logging camps established by the English. The tree's scientific name means "bloodwood".
Parkinsonia aculeata is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree, palo de rayo, and retama.
A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow and are circular or D-shaped in cross section. Flatbows can be just as long, but in cross-section, a flatbow has limbs that are approximately rectangular.
Bursera graveolens, known in Spanish as palo santo, is a wild tree native from the Yucatán Peninsula to Peru and Venezuela.
Senegalia catechu is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. The plant is called khair in Hindi, and kachu in Malay, hence the name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the type-species from which the extracts cutch and catechu are derived. Common names for it include kher, catechu, cachou, cutchtree, black cutch, and black catechu.
Brazilin is a naturally occurring red dye obtained from the wood of Paubrasilia echinata, Caesalpinia sappan, Caesalpinia violacea, and Haematoxylum brasiletto. Brazilin has been used since at least the Middle Ages to dye fabric, and has been used to make paints and inks as well. The specific color produced by the pigment depends on its manner of preparation: in an acidic solution brazilin will appear yellow, but in an alkaline preparation it will appear red. Brazilin is closely related to the blue-black dye precursor hematoxylin, having one fewer hydroxyl group. Brazilein, the active dye agent, is an oxidized form of brazilin.
Justicia spicigera is an evergreen shrub with tubular orange flowers. The species is native to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
Haematoxylum is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae and the tribe Caesalpinieae.
Quebracho is a common name in Spanish to describe very hard wood tree species. The etymology of the name derived from quiebrahacha, or quebrar hacha, meaning "axe-breaker".
Pistacia integerrima is a species of pistachio tree native to Asia, commonly called zebrawood. It is often classified as Pistacia chinensis ssp. integerrima. It is used for a variety of purposes in India, including timber, dye, and fodder. The leaf galls are used in traditional herbalism for cough, asthma, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi.
Artocarpus lacucha, also known as monkey fruit or monkey jack, is a tropical evergreen tree species of the family Moraceae. It is distributed throughout the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The tree is valued for its wood; its fruit is edible and is believed to have medicinal value. In Northeastern Thailand, the wood is used to make pong lang, a local traditional instrument.
Millettia stuhlmannii, commonly known as panga panga, is a well-known species of timber tree that is native to the southeastern Afrotropics. The wood of the tropical species M. laurentii has similar qualities and uses, but is slightly darker, and lacks the copious yellowish white resin of the heartwood vessels. Its foliage is similar to that of Pterocarpus rotundifolius, and it may be confused with the latter when observed from a distance.
Lannea welwitschii is a species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa. The timber is used to make furniture and utensils and for many other purposes, the fruits can be eaten, and the bark is used to produce a dye, for making rope and in traditional medicine.
