Haematoxylum brasiletto

Common Name: brazilwood

Family Name: Fabaceae

Botanical Name: Haematoxylum brasiletto

Synonyms:

Botanical Synonyms: Haematoxylun boreale

Family Synonyms: Leguminosae

Sub Species:

Variety:

Forma:

Cultivar:

Characteristics:

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">H. brasiletto<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"> is
a small tree or large thorny shrub, seven to fifteen metres high. The trunk and
larger branches are fluted and the heartwood is deep red. They have fantastic
ridged and fluted trunks that are very distinctive. They are winter evergreen
shrubs or trees. Brazilwood also has spiny zig-zag twigs, odd-pinnately compound
leaves with 3 sets of attractive heart-shaped leaflets. The flowers are showy,
deep yellow, papilionaceous with 5-petals and 1.5 cm (1/2 in) in diameter. A red
grow on thread-thin stalks, either singly or in pairs, either at the ends of
branches or in the leaf axils. The lowest lobe in the corolla has a distinct,
red nectar guide. The flowers are borne on very fine stalks at the branch tips
or in the leaf axils. They can bloom virtually all year long in ideal
conditions. Fruits are small, papery legume pods that ripen to a coppery-brown
color at maturity and split laterally rather than at the vertical edges. Seeds
are black and shaped like a kidney. <o:p></o:p>

Compound: Hae bra

Geographic Origin: West coast of Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela

Ecozone Origin: Neotropic

Biome Origin: SA

Natural History:

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Mexican logwood is a species of tropical hardwood tree in the legume family first identified in Mexico. It
is known in its native Mexico and Guatemala as "palo de brasil" or
"palo de tinto". The species has an extensive distribution along the entire
length of Mexico, through Central America and into Columbia. It grows in a variety
of habitats from deciduous tropical forests, to xerophytic scrub and montane
forests where it grows with oaks and pines (4). In Baja California, it grows in
desert scrub in association with Bursera, Merremia and Pachycereus species(4). <o:p></o:p>In less ideal conditions it remains as a shrub-like plant and develops into a tree form with enough warm weather and water (4).

Cultivation Notes: Brazilwood is generally propagated by seed and has an average growth rate. It successfully grows in enriched, mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soil. The soil should be allowed to dry for extended periods, but remain consistently moist during the growing season. This tree grows best in hot, high sun conditions (2). The H. brasiletto is a nitrogen-fixing member of the legume family and can grow in areas with low nitrogen soil with little or no fertilizer (3). The brazilwood can flower virtually all year with warm, moist conditions. It has an especially impressive display of flowers after significant rainfall. They are considered somewhat frost tender in Tucson, AZ.

Ethnobotany:

The logwood is often used as the common name since the
species is used to as a source of wood used to make musical instruments (4). The
heartwood contain the bioflavonoids hematoxylin and hematein which are used as a
pink dyeing agent for coloring cotton and wool cloth as well as toothpastes and
pharmaceuticals (4). The species was included in early medicinal texts such as
the London Pharmacopoeia of 1740, where it was listed as an effective
treatment for tuberculosis and dysentery (4). "Duke's Phytochemical and
Ethnobotanical Databases" notes use of the plant as an astringent, a
dentifrice, and a refrigerant for treating a wide range of ailments from fever,
jaundice, inflammation and stomach pain. By boiling the chips from the heartwood a
tonic was derived which purportedly had antibiotic properties and aided in the
relief of fever (4).