Botanical atlas

Brazilwood

Caesalpinia echinata

Long before it lent its name to a nation, this tree's blood-red heartwood was already treasured along Brazil's coast, where it yielded a deep crimson dye used for cloth, ink, and ceremony. European traders arrived to find forests thick with it, and within decades the wood, called pau-brasil, became one of the earliest and most valuable exports of the New World, so central to the colony's economy that the land itself came to be called Brazil. Alongside the dye trade, communities along the coast turned to a decoction of the tannin-rich bark as a folk remedy, dabbed on minor wounds and irritated skin or used as a gargle for a sore throat. Today the same dense, resonant wood, aged and cut fine, is what master luthiers reach for to craft the finest violin and cello bows.

Safety.

Brazilwood itself isn't known to be toxic, but the tree is heavily thorned, so wear gloves when handling bark or wood. More importantly, wild Brazilwood is endangered and protected under CITES, so only use cultivated or certified stock, never wild-harvested material.