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Guaiacum officinale is one of two species yielding the true lignum vitae, the other being Guaiacum sanctum.Guaiac, a natural resin extracted from the wood, is a colorless compound that turns blue when placed in contact with substances that have peroxidase activity and then are exposed to hydrogen peroxide.
Guaiacum sanctum, commonly known as holywood, lignum vitae [4] or holywood lignum-vitae, is a species of flowering plant in the creosote bush family, Zygophyllaceae. It is native to the Neotropical realm , from Mexico through Central America , Florida in the United States , the Caribbean , and northern South America . [ 5 ]
The invention of the use of Guaiacum for syphilis. The genus is famous as the supplier of lignum vitae, which is the wood of several species in the genus. [citation needed] It is the fourth-hardest variety of wood as measured by the Janka hardness test, requiring a force of 4,500 lb f (20,000 N) to embed a steel ball 0.444 in (1.13 cm) in diameter half that distance into the wood.
Lignum vitae (/ ˈ l ɪ ɡ n ə m ˈ v aɪ t i,-ˈ v iː t aɪ / [1]), also called guayacan or guaiacum, [2] and in parts of Europe known as Pockholz or pokhout, is a wood from trees of the genus Guaiacum. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America (e.g., Colombia and Venezuela) and have been an important ...
Common names include Texas guaiacum, Texas lignum-vitae, soapbush and huayacán. It is native to southern and western Texas [ 4 ] in the United States and northern Mexico . [ 3 ] The specific name is derived from the Latin angustus , meaning "narrow," and -folius , meaning "-leaved".
The wood of some – particularly B. arborea and B. sarmientoi – is traded as verawood (colloquially "vera") or "lignum vitae". They are close relatives of the "true" lignum vitae trees of genus Guaiacum.
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.
Lignum is Latin for wood and may refer to: Gmelina lignum-vitreum, plant endemic to New Caledonia; Lignum, common name of Muehlenbeckia florulenta, plant native to inland Australia; Lignum Crucis, remnants of the True Cross; Lignum Ltd, see John C. Kerr; Lignum vitae, trade wood from trees of the genus Guaiacum; Lignumvitae Key, island in the ...