species mapping

species mapping

BRAZILIAN WOOD

Caesalpinia echinata

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Name scientific: Caesalpinia echinata

Family: Fabaceae, Caesalpinioideae.

Origin: Brazil

Popular names: pau-brasil, ibirapitanga, orabutã, brasileto, ibirapiranga, ibirapita, ibirapitã, muirapiranga, rosewood, pau-de-pernambuco.

Natural occurrence: from Ceará to Rio de Janeiro, and also in the south of Bahia.

Features: pau-brasil, called by the Indians 'ibirapitanga', which means “red wood”, is an inedible leguminous tree, with pods covered by a thick and thorny bark, of a green-brown color. It presents specimens that are between 10 and 15 meters high, and the thorny trunk is coated with bark, which covers the orange wood.

Usage: its wood is used in the construction of violin bows. From the wood it is also possible to extract the “brasileína”, a type of dye, used in the dyeing of clothes. Due to overexploitation, the species almost went extinct around 1920 and is currently considered endangered.