Brazilwood

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Brazilwood

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Caesalpiniaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Genus:	Caesalpinia
Species:	C. echinata

Binomial name

Caesalpinia echinata
Lam.

Brazilwood or Pau-Brasil, sometimes known as Pernambuco (Caesalpinia echinata syn. Guilandina echinata (Lam.) Spreng.) is a Brazilian timber tree. 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. The wood also yields a red dye called brazilin, which oxidizes to brazilein.

1 Terminology
2 Historical importance
3 Exploitation
4 External links

[edit] Terminology

When Portuguese explorers found many of these red-hued trees on the coast of South America, they used the name pau-brasil to describe them: pau is Portuguese for "wood", and brasil is said to have come from brasa, Portuguese for "ember". This name was used earlier 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.

Botanically, several tree species are involved in the family Leguminosae, the (pulse family). The term "Brasilwood" is most often used to refer to the species Caesalpinia echinata, although it is also applied to other species. This Caesalpinia echinata is also known as Pau-de-Pernambuco (Pernambuco is also the name of a small state in Northeast Brazil).

In the bow making business, the best quality Brazilwood bows are referred to as "Pernambuco", while those bows of lesser quality wood from this species are often called "Brazilwood".

[edit] Historical importance

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. In addition, this plant is also cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

[edit] Exploitation

Excessive exploitation (it has been estimated that in the last two centuries, more than 50 million trees were destroyed) finally 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 practically extinct in most parts of the country: it is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN, and it is also cited in Official list of endangered flora of Brazil. The trade of brazilwood is therefore 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, whose members are the bowmakers who rely on pernambuco for their livelihoods, is working hard to replant it. It is advocating the use of other woods for violin bows as it raises money to plant pernambuco seedlings. This 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.