Guaiacum officinale

Botanical Description

Lignum vitae is a small, slow-growing, densely-crowned, evergreen tree growing to a height of 3 - 12 metres. The bole is generally crooked[ 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. , 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. An extremely valuable timber is obtained from the tree. The wood has also been an article of trade for medicinal purposes since 1508, when it was introduced, via Spain, to the medical profession of Europe as a specific for many of the most serious diseases of mankind[ 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. ]. The name lignum-vitae (wood of life) originated from the supposition that the material was possessed of extraordinary remedial powers. So great was the demand that for a time the wood was sold for as much as 7 gold crowns a pound[ 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. ]. Numerous learned treatises were published and served to establish the reputation of the wood so firmly that it was nearly 200 years before it was seriously questioned[ 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. ]. Both wood and resin are now medicinally obsolete except in certain proprietary decoctions[ 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. ]. The tree also has great ornamental value - beautiful blue flowers grow in great profusion and almost cover the tree and remain for a long time. As the older blooms fade from deep blue to paler shades, some becoming almost white, a striking variegation of colour is produced[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The timber and medicinal resin have been traded for several centuries as lignum-vitae, and overexploitation has taken place throughout the species' range. Where it still occurs, populations are now severely reduced. Regeneration is good but growth is very slow. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].