THE SANCTUARY ESTATEgardens
Collection/Guayacan real
Guayacan real botanical plate
Plate · drawn for the register, 2026Guaiacum sanctum
Hardwood

Guayacan real

Guaiacum sanctum L.
FamilyZygophyllaceae
EspañolGuayacán real
AlsoLignum vitae, Holywood, Tree of life, Guayacan real (common name missing)

A slow-growing, small to medium evergreen tree of the tropical dry forest, usually 3–9 m tall in cultivation and up to 20 m in the wild, with dark green pinnate leaves and showy bluish-purple flowers with yellow anthers that from a distance look like clouds of purple. Its wood is among the heaviest of all timbers, with a specific gravity above 1, so it sinks in water. In Costa Rica the species was heavily and illegally logged from the 1970s to 1990s, leading to alarming declines and local extinction.

Sourced · see Record tab Near Threatened; listed as endangered by the State of Florida. · IUCN
Worth knowingThe wood has a specific gravity of about 1.09 to 1.35, so it sinks instead of floating; its resins provide natural lubrication, which is why it served for centuries in ship bearings.
2on the estate
0carrying a tag
0sponsored
TagGarden areaZonePlantedStatusSponsoredNote
24 May 2018Planted
24 May 2018Planted

2 of these have no tag yet; they will be numbered when the garden team re-tags the estate.

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