Botanical atlas

Logwood

Haematoxylum campechianum

Long before it filled European dye vats, logwood's dense red heartwood was already valued by the Maya, who used decoctions of the chips as an astringent wash for wounds and a remedy for digestive upset. When Spanish and later British traders discovered how richly the wood colored cloth, it became one of the most fought-over commodities in the Caribbean, prized for producing deep blacks and purples on wool and silk. Folk healers throughout Mexico and Central America continued to brew the wood chips into a mild tea, traditionally taken in small amounts to settle a troubled stomach or gargled for a sore throat. Today the tree's fame rests mostly with science rather than the kitchen garden, since its extracted compound became the backbone of a stain used in medical laboratories around the world.

Safety.

The purified lab-grade hematoxylin extract used for staining should never be ingested or applied to skin. Traditional mild decoctions of the raw wood were taken only in small amounts for short periods, since larger doses can cause stomach upset, nausea, or a laxative effect.