Guaiacum sanctum L.

  • Title

    Guaiacum sanctum L.

  • Authors

    Nathaniel Lord Britton, Frances W. Horne

  • Scientific Name

    Guaiacum sanctum L.

  • Description

    Flora Borinqueña Guaiacum sanctum Guayacancillo Lignum Benedictum Family Zygophyllaceae Caltrop Family Guaiacum sanctum Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 382. 1753. As compared with its relative, Guaiacum officinale, the Guayacancillo is usually a smaller, and more slender tree, although recorded as sometimes reaching an equal maximum height; Guayacan blanco is another name used for it. In Porto Rico it is restricted in occurrence to the driest, southwestern districts, at low elevations, near the coast, growing in low woodlands, or thickets, but not plentiful, and also inhabits Mona Island. The blue, or purple flowers are attractive, but the tree is much more conspicuous when bearing ripe fruit, which is yellowish, and splits open, revealing the scarlet-arilled seeds. The geographic distribution of this species is westward, through Hispaniola and Cuba to Yucatan, and northward to the Bahama Islands and southern Florida. The wood is similar to that of Guaiacum officinale. Guaiacum sanctum (the wood at first used as a remedy) may attain height of about 10 meters, with a trunk about 30 centimeters in diameter, but is usually smaller; the bark is pale and nearly smooth, the branches spreading, or drooping. The leaves, from 4 to 10 centimeters long, have from 6 to 10 (rarely only 4) oblong to oblanceolate, stalkless, smooth leaflets from 1 to 3.5 centimeters long, blunt, or minutely tipped. The blue, or purple flowers are solitary or few together at the ends of hairy stalks shorter than the leaves; the obovate, hairy sepals are from 5 to 7 millimeters long, the obovate, smooth petals from 7 to 11 millimeters long. The yellow or orange, broadly obovoid, or subglobose fruit is from 14 to 17 millimeters long, and somewhat angled; the dark brown, or black seeds, 10 to 12 millimeters long, are covered by a scarlet aril. For description of the genus we refer to our account of Guaiacum officinale.