''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of

flowering A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

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 ...

in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is native to southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

,where it is known as ''Árbol de campeche'', and introduced to the Caribbean, northern

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and other localities around the world. The tree was of great economic importance from the 17th century to the 19th century, when it was commonly logged and exported to Europe for use in

dyeing Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular c ...

fabrics. The modern nation of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

developed from 17th- and 18th-century

logging camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

s established by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. The tree's scientific name means "bloodwood" (''haima'' being

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for blood and ''xylon'' for wood).

Uses

''Haematoxylum campechianum'' was used for a long time as a natural source of dye. The woodchips are still used as an important source of

haematoxylin Haematoxylin or hematoxylin (), also called natural black 1 or C.I. 75290, is a compound extracted from heartwood of the logwood tree (''Haematoxylum campechianum'') with a chemical formula of . This naturally derived dye has been used as a ...

, which is used in

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

for staining. The bark and leaves are also used in various medical applications. In its time, it was considered a versatile dye, and was widely used on

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s and also for

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

. The extract was once used as a

pH indicator A pH indicator is a halochromic chemical compound added in small amounts to a solution so the pH (acidity or basicity) of the solution can be determined visually or spectroscopically by changes in absorption and/or emission properties. Hence, ...

. Brownish when neutral, it becomes yellow-reddish under acidic conditions and purple when alkaline. In a small demonstrative experiment, if two drops, one of concentrated

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

and one of logwood extract, are placed close enough, the NH₃ vapours will change the color of the extract to a purple shade.''Chemical Recreations,'' John Joseph Griffin, 1834, p. 279
/ref> Haematoxylum campechianum wood chips

Logwood and pirates

Logwood also played an important role in the lives of 17th-century

buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688 ...

and into the

Golden Age of Piracy The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa ...

. Spain claimed all of Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

as its sovereign territory through the 17th and 18th centuries; despite this, English, Dutch, and French sailors recognized the value of logwood and set up camps to cut and collect the trees for shipment back to Europe. Spain periodically sent privateers to capture the logwood cutters – for example,

Juan Corso Juan Corso (died 1685) was a Corsican pirate and ''guarda costa'' privateer who sailed in Spanish service, operating out of Cuba. History Corso sailed alongside Spanish privateer Pedro de Castro under commander Felipe de la Barreda y Villegas in ...

's 1680 cruise – sometimes in retaliation for buccaneer raids on Spanish cities. Logwood cutters, now out of work, frequently joined onto pirate and buccaneer crews to raid the Spanish in return, as Edmund Cooke did after losing two logwood-hauling ships to the Spanish. When Spanish forces ejected a great many logwood cutters in 1715, they flocked to Nassau and swelled the already-considerable numbers of pirates gathering there. By the mid-1720s logwood cutters had themselves become targets of pirates such as

Francis Spriggs Francis Spriggs (died 1725?) was a British pirate who, associated with George Lowther and Edward Low, was active in the Caribbean and the Bay of Honduras during the early 1720s. Early career Although much of his early life is unknown, Francis S ...

Edward Low Edward "Ned" Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; 16901724) was a notorious pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from ...

, and George Lowther; pirate captains Samuel Bellamy and

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known abou ...

went further, turning captured logwood-hauling sloops into pirate vessels. Logwood cutting was profitable – "According to a government report, in the four years 1713 to 1716, some 4,965 tons of logwood were exported to England at not less than £60,000 per annum" – but only brought in a fraction of the profits from tobacco and other legal exports, and "was always a minor industry carried on by a few hundred ex-seamen and pirates in a remote corner of the globe".

Gallery

Image:Haematoxylum campechianum Ypey69.jpg Image:Haematoxylon campechianum1.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q376320 Caesalpinieae Medicinal plants of Central America Plant dyes Crops originating from Mexico Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus