Lignum vitae (), also called guayacan or guaiacum, 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 export crop to Europe since the beginning of the 16th century. The wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness, and density. It is also the national tree of the Bahamas, and the Jamaican national flower. The wood is obtained chiefly from Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum, both small, slow-growing trees. All species of the genus Guaiacum are now listed in Appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) as potentially endangered species. G. sanctum is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List. Demand for the wood has been reduced by modern materials science, which has led to polymers, alloys and composite materials that can take lignum vitae's place. Various other hardwoods may also be called lignum vitae. The best-known come from Bulnesia arborea and Bulnesia sarmientoi (in the same subfamily as Guaiacum) and are known as verawood or Argentine lignum vitae; they are somewhat similar in appearance and working qualities as genuine lignum vitae. These species are now Plectrocarpa arborea and Plectrocarpa sarmientoi. Some hardwoods from Australasia (e.g., Vitex lignum-vitae and some species of Acacia and Eucalyptus) are also referred to as lignum vitae.
Name Lignum vitae is Latin for "wood of life". The plant derives its name from its medicinal uses; lignum vitae resin has been used to treat a variety of medical conditions from coughs to arthritis. Other names for lignum vitae include palo santo (Spanish for "holy stick"), Aura palo santo and "bastard greenheart" (not to be confused with true greenheart Chlorocardium rodiei, a popular wood in shipbuilding, cabinetry, and woodturning but a completely different timber). Lignum vitae is also one of the numerous hard, dense woods loosely referred to as "ironwood".
Description The tree is slow-growing and relatively small in stature, even when mature and old. It bears small, purplish-blue flowers which result in paired orange dehiscent fruits. The bark is mottled.
Wood products Lignum vitae is hard and durable, and is also the densest wood traded (average dried density: ~79 lb/ft3 or ~1,260 kg/m3); it will easily sink in water. On the Janka scale of hardness, which measures hardness of woods, lignum vitae ranks highest of the trade woods, with a Janka hardness of 4,390 lbf (19,500 N) (compared with Olneya at 3,260 lbf (14,500 N), African blackwood at 2,940 lbf (13,100 N), hickory at 1,820 lbf (8,100 N), red oak at 1,290 lbf (5,700 N), yellow pine at 690 lbf (3,100 N), and balsa at 100 lbf (440 N)). The densest of all woods is Allocasuarina luehmannii. Krugiodendron typically has a higher density, among many other woods that vary by sample.
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