Guaiacum
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Guaiacum (Template:IPAc-en<ref name="oed2e">OED 2nd edition, 1989.</ref><ref name="mwebster">Entry "guaiacum" in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, retrieved 2013-04-30.</ref>), sometimes spelled Guajacum, is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of slow-growing shrubs and trees, reaching a height of approximately Template:Convert but usually less than half of that. All are native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas and are commonly known as lignum-vitae, guayacán (Spanish), or gaïac (French).<ref name="Elsevier">Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name originated in Taíno, the language spoken by the native Taínos of the Bahamas; it was adopted into English in 1533, the first word in that language of American origin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Members of the genus have a variety of uses, including as lumber, for medicinal purposes, and as ornamentals. The trade of all species of Guaiacum is controlled under CITES Appendix II.<ref name="GC2005">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Guaiacum officinale is the national flower of Jamaica,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Guaiacum sanctum is the national tree of the Bahamas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
UsesEdit
The genus is famous as the supplier of lignum vitae, which is the wood of several species in the genus.Template:Citation needed It is the fourth-hardest variety of wood as measured by the Janka hardness test, requiring a force of Template:Convert to embed a steel ball Template:Convert in diameter half that distance into the wood.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Spanish encountered guaiacum wood when they conquered San Domingo in the sixteenth century. It was soon brought back to Europe, where epidemic syphilis had been raging for decades. Gum guiacum quickly acquired a reputation as a cure for syphilis,<ref name="JH">Johannes Stradanus Template:Webarchive undated brief review of works. Accessed August 6, 2007.</ref> a practice Benvenuto Cellini records in his memoirs.<ref name="Wallis1955">Template:Cite book</ref> Thomas Nashe referred to its supposed medical properties in his tract Nashe's Lenten Stuff, alluding to the exotic sound of the word itself: "Physicians deafen our ears with the honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly panacaea, their sovereign guiacum."<ref name="hindley1871">Template:Cite book</ref> The detailed engraving, Preparation and Use of Guayaco for Treating Syphilis, published by Philips Galle after a design by the Flemish artist Jan van der Straet, depicts four servants preparing a concoction of gum guiacum for their wealthy master under the supervision of a physician.<ref name="ALLPOSTERS">Jan van der Straet's "Hyacum et lues venera". Accessed June 29, 2018.</ref> Paracelsus, the famous if controversial Swiss physician, disputed the effectiveness of this treatment and was censured for his criticism.Template:Citation needed
Gum guaiacum was used to stimulate menstruation; in a 1793 Virginia court case, Martha Jefferson Randolph testified that she had provided gum guaiacum to a female relative to "produce an abortion",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> suggesting that it was also used as an abortifacient. In A Treatise of the Materia Medica (1789), Scottish physician William Cullen noted: "Several physicians have apprehended mischief from the use of the guaiacum in a spirituous tincture."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="cullen1789">Template:Cite book</ref>
The 1955 edition of the Textbook of Pharmacognosy states: "Guaiacum has a local stimulant action which is sometimes useful in sore throat. The resin is used in chronic gout and rheumatism, whilst the wood is an ingredient in the compound concentrated solution of sarsaparilla, which was formerly much used as an alternative in syphilis."<ref name="Wallis1955" />
A phenolic compound derived from the resin of Guaiacum trees is used in a common test for blood in human stool samples. The presence of heme in the blood causes the formation of a coloured product in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The effect of peroxidases in horseradish on guiacum was first noted in 1810.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
As a food additive, Guaiacum is designated E314 and classified as an antioxidant.
A widely used derivative drug is the expectorant known as guaifenesin.
The soap fragrance oil of guaiac comes from Bulnesia sarmientoi, a South American tree from the same family.
Members of the genus are grown in Florida and California as ornamental plants.
SpeciesEdit
Seven species are accepted.<ref name = powo/>
| Image | Scientific Name | Common Name | Distribution | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Guaiacum angustifolium.jpg | Guaiacum angustifolium Engelm. | Texas Lignum-vitae | Texas, Northeastern Mexico | ||
| File:Guaiacum coulteri.jpg | Guaiacum coulteri A.Gray | Sonoran Lignum-vitae | Western Mexico, Guatemala | ||
| Guaiacum nellii (G.Navarro) Christenh. & Byng | Bolivia (Santa Cruz Department) | ||||
| File:Starr 070727-7629 Guaiacum officinale.jpg | Guaiacum officinale L. | Common Lignum-vitae | The Caribbean, Northern South America | ||
| Guaiacum palmeri Vail | northwestern Mexico (Sonora) | ||||
| File:Guaiacum sanctum-Artz.jpg | Guaiacum sanctum L. | Holywood Lignum-vitae | Southern Florida, The Bahamas, Southern Mexico, Central America, Greater Antilles | ||
| Guaiacum unijugum Brandegee | Northwestern Mexico<ref>Template:GRIN</ref><ref name="GRINSpecies">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
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Formerly placed hereEdit
- Porlieria microphylla (Baill.) Descole et al. (as G. microphyllum Baill.)
- Schotia afra (L.) Thunb. (as G. afrum L.)<ref name="GRINSpecies"/>