LIGNUM VITAE IN CURACAO 



BY MILES HAMAN 



PRACTICALLY every American who is at all familiar 

 with the common commercial woods has seen and 

 handled Lignum Vita?, or, as it is commonly called 

 from Havana to Buenos Aires, guayacan. To those who 

 are unfamiliar with this wood and its uses, it would be of 

 interest to look closely at the next bowling-ball, pulley- 

 block, or wooden bed caster and one will be pretty sure to find 

 a close-grained, hea\T. greenwood with an oily surface which 

 bears, inEnglish-speaking countries, thenaine of Lignum Vi- 

 tas. Though thewood is thus in common useandwcU known, 

 but few have ever seen the tree in its native surroundings. 

 There are anumberof species, but perhaps the most com- 

 mon are Guayacum sanctum and Guayacuni officinale, of the 

 West Indian Islands. Closely related genera of the same 

 family are found in the Argentine Chaco, where it is a much 

 prized fire-wood of the Indians. Many a soldier and ex- 



LIG.XU.M \11.E, UK l.LAV.KU.M, l.\ ITS .X.ATU'K SURROUX DI.NGS 

 The heat is very great but modified by trade winds and the region is one of ex- 

 treme drought, the average rainfall being less than ten inches, and records of no 

 precipitation at all for a whole year are not uncommon. The huge cacti and 

 thorny shrubs thriving nearby testify to these conditions. 



plorcrof this region has cooked his meal with knotsand splin- 

 ters of guayacan, or used it as a torch. In Spanish-speaking 

 countries the true Lignum Vitaj is much confused with the 

 group of very hard woods belonging to the Leguminosae — 

 closely related to our black locust . These woods bear the same 

 name of guayacan, and are widely used, but lack the peculiar 

 qualities which are characteristic of the true guayacan. 



On the Island of Curacao, Dutch West Indies, just off 

 the Venezuelan coast, and far down on the point where the 

 work of forest destruction has progressed the least, one may 

 see Lignum Vitas in its native home. 



The island is one of gently rolling topography with 

 but three ]ioints, St. Christopher, the Castle Mountains 

 and the Three Brothers, rising well above the general 

 level, and it is at medium elevations that guayacan is 

 most commonly found. The heat here is great, though 



somewhat moderated by the trade winds, and the island 

 is out of the Caribbean region most affected by hurricanes. 



The region is one of extreme drought. The average rain- 

 fall is less than ten inches and records of no precipitation at 

 all for an entire year are not uncommon 



Huge tree cacti, Cereus, Opimtia and Mclocactus, thorny 

 shrubs and such plants as are common to the Arizona-Cal- 



SHOWING DETAIL OF THE PECULIAR BARK OF THE LIGNUM VITM 

 The wood is close-grained, heavy and very hard, and the tree, with its richly 

 colored dark green leaves, its blue flowers and orange-red fruits, is in striking con- 

 trast to its arid surroundings. 



ifomia desert region are the common associates of guayacan. 

 It grows in places as unlikely for tree growth as one can find. 

 Not only is guayacan important commercially, but it has 

 proved its wort h as an ornamental tree. Not to be outdone by 

 mahogany, which has been planted as a shade tree, guayacan 

 is also used in landscape work, and several groups have been 

 planted around the Governor's palace, just inside the harbor. 



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