Brazilwood
An adult specimen in a square in Vitória, Brazil. Vitória is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Genus: Caesalpinia Species: C. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Magnoliopsida is the Botanical name for a class of Flowering plants By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its Fabales is an order of Flowering plants It is included in the rosid group of the Eudicots in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of Flowering plants which is commonly known as the legume family, pea Caesalpinioideae is a Botanical name at the rank of Subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Caesalpinia is the name of a genus of controversial size (different publications including between 70 and 165 species mostly depending on inclusion or exclusion of various genera echinata
Binomial name
Caesalpinia echinata Lam.
natural range

Brazilwood or Pau-Brasil, sometimes known as Pernambuco (Caesalpinia echinata syn. Guilandina echinata (Lam. Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet Chevalier de Lamarck ( August 1, 1744 &ndash December 18, 1829) was a French Soldier In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon. ) Spreng. ) is a Brazilian timber tree. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld This plant has a dense, orange-red wood (which takes a high shine), and it is the premier wood used for making bows for string instruments from the violin family. In Music, a bow is moved across some part of a Musical instrument, causing Vibration which the instrument emits as Sound. The Violin family of Musical instruments was developed in Italy in the Sixteenth century. The wood also yields a red dye called brazilin, which oxidizes to brazilein. A dye can generally be described as a Colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied Brazilin is a red pigment obtained from the wood of the Brazilwood family ( Caesalpinia sp) and is also known as Natural red 24.

Etymology

When Portuguese explorers found these trees of a deep red hue inside on the coast of South America, they used the name pau-brasil to describe them. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Pau is Portuguese for "wood", and brasil is said to have come from brasa, Portuguese for "ember". This name had been earlier used to describe a different species of tree which was found in Asia and other places and which also produced red dye; but the South American trees soon became the better source of red dye. Brazilwood trees were such a large part of the exports and economy of the land that the country which sprang up in that part of the world took its name from them and is now called Brazil. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld

Botanically, several tree species are involved, all in the family Fabaceae (the pulse family). Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of Flowering plants which is commonly known as the legume family, pea A legume is a Plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae or a Fruit of these specific plants The term "Brasilwood" is most often used to refer to the species Caesalpinia echinata, but it is also applied to other species. This Caesalpinia echinata is also known as Pau-de-Pernambuco (Named after the state of Pernambuco in the Nordeste [north-east] region of Brazil). Pernambuco (pɛxnɐ̃ˈbuku is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country

In the bow making business, the best-quality wood bows are made from Caesalpinia echinata, commonly known in the trade as "Pernambuco Wood"; bows of lesser quality wood are made from other tropical species, often called "Brazilwood". Thus, the terms "Pernambuco" and "Brazilwood" — as used in the stringed instruments bows — refer to completely different species. Examples of "Brazilwood" species used for bows include Pink Ipê (Tabebuia impetiginosa), Massaranduba (Manilkara bidentata) and Palo Brasil (Haematoxylum brasiletto). Tabebuia is a Neotropical Genus of about 100 Species in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. Tabebuia impetiginosa, Pink Ipê or Pink Lapacho is a native Bignoniaceae tree of America, distributed from northern Mexico south Balatá ( Manilkara bidentata) is a species of Manilkara native to a large area of northern South America, Central America and

Historical importance

An illustration of the tree leaves and flowers.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, brazilwood was highly valued in Europe and quite difficult to get. Coming from Asia, it was traded in powder form and used as a red dye in the manufacture of luxury textiles, such as velvet, in high demand during the Renaissance. Brazilin is a red pigment obtained from the wood of the Brazilwood family ( Caesalpinia sp) and is also known as Natural red 24. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Velvet is a type of tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed with a short dense pile giving it a distinct feel The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere When Portuguese navigators discovered present-day Brazil, on April 22, 1500, they immediately saw that brazilwood was extremely abundant along the coast and in its hinterland, along the rivers. Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil. In a few years, a hectic and very profitable operation for felling and transporting by shipping all the brazilwood logs they could get was established, as a crown-granted Portuguese monopoly. Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber. In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient The rich commerce which soon followed stimulated other nations to try to harvest and smuggle brazilwood contraband out of Brazil, or even corsairs attacking loaded Portuguese ships in order to steal their cargo. Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer The English word contraband, reported in English since 1529 from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling" derived via Italian contrabando from Latin A privateer was a private Warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping For example, the unsuccessful attempt of a French expedition led by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, vice-admiral of Brittany and corsair under the King, in 1555, to establish a colony in present-day Rio de Janeiro (France Antarctique) was motivated in part by the bounty generated by economic exploitation of brazilwood. Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon ( Villegaignon, Seine et Marne, France, 1510 &ndash Beauvais, January 9, 1571) was a French Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into Rio de Janeiro ("River of January" ˈhiw dʒi ʒʌˈnejɾu in Brazilian Portuguese, /ˈriːoʊ di ʒəˈnɛroʊ/ in English is the second largest city of Brazil France Antarctique was the name of the failed French Colony south of the Equator, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which existed In addition, this plant is also cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. Flora Brasiliensis is a book published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, Ignatz Urban Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius ( April 17, 1794 &ndash December 13, 1868 Munich) was a German Botanist and

Exploitation

Excessive exploitation led to a steep decrease in the number of brazilwood trees in the 18th century, causing the collapse of this economic activity. Presently, the species is nearly extinct in most of its original range. In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. Brazilwood is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN, and it is cited in the official list of endangered flora of Brazil. This is the official list of endangered Flora of Brazil. It is published in Portaria 37-N de 3 de abril de 1992 (Act No 37-N on April 3, 1992 The trade of brazilwood is likely to be banned in the immediate future, creating a major problem in the bow-making industry which highly values this wood. The International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative (IPCI), whose members are the bowmakers who rely on pernambuco for their livelihoods, is working to replant it. IPCI is advocating the use of other woods for violin bows as it raises money to plant pernambuco seedlings. The shortage of pernambuco has also helped the carbon fiber bow industry to thrive.

Tree of Music, a feature-length documentary on the plight of this species, is currently in production. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality

External links

• About Pernambuco Wood from a bowmaker's website.
• USDA Plants Profile: Caesalpinia echinata
• (Portuguese) Flora Brasiliensis: Caesalpinia echinata
• (Portuguese) Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Florestais: Caesalpinia echinata