Holywood (Guaiacum sanctum)
Description
Guaiacum sanctum, commonly known as holywood or holywood lignum-vitae, is a species of flowering plant in the creosote bush family, Zygophyllaceae. It ranges from southern Florida in the United States and the Bahamas south to Central America and the Greater Antilles. It is threatened by habitat loss. This small tree is slow growing, reaching about 7 m (23 ft) in height with a trunk diameter of 50 cm (20 in). The tree is essentially evergreen throughout most of its native range. It is shade tolerant. It fruits between the age for 30 and 70 years over the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. The wood is hard, heavy and self-lubricating and has a Janka Hardness Score of 4500, which is one of the hardest in the world. It can sink when placed in water. There are fine ripple marks on the wood. This tree is one of two species which yield the valuable Lignum vitae wood, the other being Guaiacum officinale. The wood has been used for making specific parts of ships that needed to be self-lubricating so that they would last longer. The tree is considered to have medicinal value, used mostly for home remedies, though it had also been used to treat Syphilis. The bark can be steeped to create tonics. It is also used as an ornamental plant.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Zygophyllales
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Family: Zygophyllaceae
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Genus: Guaiacum
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