Bulnesia sarmientoi
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 Palo santo (B. sarmientoi)
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| Bulnesia sarmientoi Lorentz ex Griseb. |
Bulnesia sarmientoi is a tree that inhabits a part of the Gran Chaco area in South America, around the Argentina-Bolivia-Paraguay border. Its common name is palo santo (Spanish, "holy wood"); in some places it is called ibiocaí, and in the trade also known as vera or verawood. It may also appear named as Paraguay lignum vitae, since it has properties and uses similar to the lignum vitae trees of genus Guaiacum.
Bulnesia sarmientoi heartwood is brown, black, and green (varying in color from light olive green to chocolate brown), with streaks. The sapwood is mostly thin and light yellow. The basic specific gravity of this wood is between 0.92 and 1.1 g/cm³.
Palo santo is employed for engraving work and for the making of durable wooden posts. From its wood, also, a type of oil known as oil of guaiac (or guayacol) is produced, to be used as an ingredient for perfumes. Its resin can be obtained by means of organic solvents, and is employed to make varnishes and dark paints.
Palo santo is appreciated for the skin-healing properties of its essence and also because it provides good charcoal and a high quality timber. It ignites easily despite being so dense, and produces a fragrant smoke. Natives of the Chaco region employ the bark to treat stomach problems.
Having heard that Palo Santo wood was used to make vessels to ferment wine in Paraguay, Dogfish Head Brewery imported 20 blocks of it to create the Palo Santo Marron beer. They addded the wood blocks to the fermenters during the aging process and ended up with a sweet 12% abv, highly roasty, and malty wood aged brown ale.
The best known species in the genus is Bulnesia arborea : its wood is traded together with that of Bulnesia sarmientoi.
[edit] References
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). Bulnesia sarmientoi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval by H. G. Richter and M. J. Dallwitz
- Catálogo Web de especies forestales - Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Asunción (in Spanish)
- Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron - Descriptions, Availability
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