''Parapiptadenia rigida'' is a perennial

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

. It is not a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

. It is native to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Common names include angico, angico-cedro, angico-do-banhado, angico-dos-montes, angico-verdadeiro, angico-vermelho (in Spanish angico is changed for anchico), guarucaia and paric.International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS)
/ref> ''Parapiptadenia rigida'' grows from about 18m to 30m in height and it has a straight trunk which has slightly furrowed bark. The foliage is dark green and the flowers are greenish-yellow 5 cm to 9 cm long. It blooms in the spring. The seed pods grow 9 cm to 16 cm in length. The seeds are flat, oval and brown. It is found along the lengths of rivers.

Uses

Essential oils

Essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s from the tree are becoming more widely recognized in industrial fragrance production.

Gum

Gum from the tree can be used in the same way as

gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the '' Acacia'' tree, ''Senegalia sen ...

Traditional uses

Extracts from the tree have

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian plant ...

expectorant Mucoactive agents are a class of chemical agents that aid in the clearance of mucus or sputum from the upper and lower airways, including the lungs, bronchi, and trachea. Mucoactive drugs include expectorants, mucolytics, mucoregulators, and muco ...

, anti-

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

l, and

hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

-arresting properties. It is used for its antiseptic properties in southern Brazil.Bionews Online
/ref> The bark has a high

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

content of 15.0% and it is used in folk medicine as a bitter-tasting tonic and body cleanser. It is used to treat

rickets Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications may ...

, lack of appetite and

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

weakness.Árvoresdeirati
''Parapiptadenia rigida'' is

psychoactive A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Th ...

.Index of Rätsch, Christian. Enzyklopädie der psychoaktiven Pflanzen, Botanik, Ethnopharmakologie und Anwendungen, 7. Auflage. AT Verlag, 2004, 941 Seiten. at

Tannin

The tree's bark contains 15.0%

Wood

Its dense, wood is resistant to the elements and is used for construction, carpentry, beams for bridges, poles and firewood. The wood is said to be unaffected by insects including termites and it can last more than 20 years unpainted.

Mechanical properties

It has a "Janka Hardness" of 2300-3700 lb.,J.G. Architectural
/ref> a parallel "bending strength" of 16900 psi, a parallel "compression strength" of 8500 psi and a density of 720–1199 kg/m³ at a moisture content of 12-15%. Its

modulus of elasticity An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity) is the unit of measurement of an object's or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when a stress is applied to it. The elastic modulus of an object is ...

is 157 801 kg/cm².Ficha Técnica: Anchico Colorado (Spanish)
For hardwood flooring it is called "pepperwood."

References

External links

''Parapiptadenia rigida'' -- Google Images''Parapiptadenia rigida'' Photos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2719012 Mimosoids Trees of Argentina Trees of Brazil Trees of Paraguay Trees of Uruguay Flora of the Atlantic Forest Medicinal plants of South America Entheogens