Lignum Vitae
Guaiacum sanctum
Plant Family: Zygophllaceae
Leaves: Opposite, once-compound, to 20 cm, with 6 to 10 stalk-less oval leaflets, often held in a V-like arrangement, the leaflet apices have a small sharp tip.
Bark: Light gray, rough, somewhat blocky on older specimens; the branches on older trees have a distinctly crooked or twisted appearance.
Flowers: Five purple-blue petals with yellow stamens, 1.5 cm in diameter; held in small terminal clusters; mostly spring.
Fruits: A green to orange capsule, to 2 cm; when ripe it opens to reveal dark seeds enclosed in a red pulp; summer to fall.
Habitat: This is a slow growing, but long-lived tree that is restricted to certain drier hammocks on the Keys. Three meter specimens may be over 100 years old!
Growth Form: Small tree.
Key Features: Distinguished from other hammock species by the understory form and the opposite, once compound leaves.
Comments: Lignum Vitae is an endangered species that is most common on Lignumvitae Key; it is planted at a few other locations on the Keys and in parks and conservation areas on the peninsula. This beautiful small tree is the national tree of the Bahamas.
