A different red and green
Many of you may be seeing or thinking about the red and green of holly today, but here’s a different bearer of those colors, a diminutive evergreen tree called guayacán, Guaiacum angustifolium. I’d seen the species on previous visits to arid west Texas but never at a time of year when it had bright red seeds on it the way it did in Big Bend National Park on November 22.
© 2015 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Those little leaves are almost needles, aren’t they? Is it evergreen? Is it aromatic?
melissabluefineart
December 25, 2015 at 8:36 AM
This is indeed an evergreen. The way you see its little leaflets, almost folded up, is apparently their normal way to be (I say apparently because I’m not very familiar with the species and am going by what I read online). I suspect that guayacán is at least somewhat aromatic because it’s a relative of the creosote bush.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 9:16 AM
Somehow I thought so. Foldy-up leaves would help preserve moisture, I think.
melissabluefineart
December 28, 2015 at 9:12 AM
Most likely so. I like the way you described the “foldy-up leaves.”
Steve Schwartzman
December 28, 2015 at 10:54 AM
🙂
melissabluefineart
December 28, 2015 at 3:37 PM
This one must be more cold hardy than ours. The term originated from the Taino indians as “Guaiacum”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaiacum
Ours is the Guaiacum officinale, also known as guayacán, but its particular ‘lignum-vitae’ is a popular name because it’s the most coveted wood for woodturning and one of the hardest on the island. I’ve worked with this wood and it’s a woodworker’s dream.
Maria F.
December 25, 2015 at 9:09 AM
Wow, someone who’s not only familiar with the plant but who’s worked with the wood: I’d read about how hard guayacán wood is, and therefore how prized by woodworkers. I’d also read that the name of the tree comes from a language of the Taíno people, who unfortunately survive as a people only in some of the words they left behind. Lignum vitae is Latin for ‘wood of life,’ with lignum being the source of Spanish leña.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 9:26 AM
Here’s an example of its striking markings:
(https://www.maxguitarstore.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/LIGNUM%20VITAE%201-320×320.jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaiacum_officinale
Maria F.
December 25, 2015 at 9:17 AM
(See how gorgeous it is :
http://lumberjocks.com/assets/pictures/projects/327300.jpg)
Unfortunately, ‘lignum-vitae’ is endangered because it has been exploited for commercial purposes, although P.R. still has trees:
“Lignum-vitae was listed as an endangered species by the IUCN in 1998. It has been overexploited for its valuable wood and medicinal products. International trade of this species is restricted because of its placement in CITES Appendix II”-Wiki
Maria F.
December 25, 2015 at 9:29 AM
As far as I know, the species that grows natively in Texas is not endangered; there’s a lot of room in the dry lands of west Texas for guayacán to grow.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 9:39 AM
Yes, it certainly looks pretty.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 9:39 AM
Yours is very pretty too, so Hollies are definitely not the only source of red.
Maria F.
December 25, 2015 at 9:36 AM
The next time I encounter a woodworker here, I’ll ask about using the wood of the Texas species.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 9:41 AM
I’m sure P.R. is cultivating these trees. They are also used for musical instruments on a world-wide scale, but I don’t know whether this tree has recuperated enough.
Maria F.
December 25, 2015 at 9:47 AM
The seeds remind me of the Christmas berry (or Carolina wolfberry) that grows here, as well as the red seeds of the mountain laurel. It’s a beautiful tree.
The name brought to mind the city that Lisa Brunetti often visits: Guayaquil, Ecuador. At first, I thought the similarity between Guayaquil and guayacán probably was superficial, but after a bit more reading about the history of the Taino and their roots in South America, I’m not so sure.
What I do know is that Lignum vitae is so dense it won’t float in water. In shipbuilding, it was used mostly for such things as turning blocks. And, it was used for clock gears in Colonial America. I’d never thought about the possibility of wooden gears. That’s good evidence for its hardness.
shoreacres
December 25, 2015 at 10:21 AM
I looked up Carolina wolfberry and added a link to your comment so people could see what that plant is like.
That’s an interesting conjecture about a link between Guayaquil and guayacán. If you find anything definitive, do let us know.
From the little searching I’d done I saw that lignum vitae wood is heavier than water, so it’d be no use to shipwrecked sailors trying to stay afloat. Clock gears: how quaint. Perhaps the wood was cheaper or more readily available than metal.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 1:29 PM
For woodworkers, Lignum vitae makes an awfully hard and good striking mallet for chiseling hand cut mortices.
Steve Gingold
December 26, 2015 at 7:11 PM
Ah, another person who’s familiar with it, as I am not.
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 9:37 PM
A beautiful photograph to grace the day. Happy holidays!
Susan Scheid
December 25, 2015 at 4:25 PM
I can do this now because I’m not doing the cooking!
Susan Scheid
December 25, 2015 at 4:25 PM
But I’ll bet you’ll cook up something, even if it’s not food.
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 11:11 PM
And the same to you. How about those temperatures in the Northeast that are as warm as the ones in Texas?
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 11:12 PM
I’ll take it over what we had the last two years!
Susan Scheid
December 26, 2015 at 9:41 PM
Yeah, I thought about those recent frigid winters you underwent (literally as well as figuratively). Except for those people longing for an old-time Christmas, this year’s version must be a welcome relief.
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 9:49 PM
These look very beautiful. Have just been introduced to the botanical beauty butchers broom with red berries and a stalk that looks like a leaf with a tiny flower. Happy Christmas and thanks for all your fascinating posts.
navasolanature
December 25, 2015 at 4:26 PM
You’re most welcome. Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo.
I had to look up butcher’s broom:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruscus_aculeatus
Steve Schwartzman
December 25, 2015 at 11:15 PM
I think the Spanish word here is also ruscus, but forgot that and links as often as not to the Latin.
navasolanature
December 26, 2015 at 10:35 AM
http://dle.rae.es/?id=Wr9Nt5T
http://dle.rae.es/?id=6BvWbZN
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 1:02 PM
Thanks for that, I will now need to go out and take some photos.
navasolanature
December 26, 2015 at 1:15 PM
Happy picture-taking.
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 1:32 PM
Beautiful and practical; I see its common name is soaptree.
Gallivanta
December 26, 2015 at 2:49 AM
Until I prepared this post I didn’t know about that other name. The website of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center notes: “The bark of the roots is sometimes used as soap for washing woolen goods, as it does not fade colors.”
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 7:28 AM
An excellent soap, then.
Gallivanta
December 26, 2015 at 7:37 PM
The strong light makes the inner branches appear almost snow-like at first glance.
Steve Gingold
December 26, 2015 at 7:12 PM
There was indeed strong light out there in the desert, but I would never have thought about snow. Looking at the image in the abstract, you’re free to see snow.
Steve Schwartzman
December 26, 2015 at 9:40 PM