Pernambuco – Pernambuco – Pau Brasil

Names and distribution: Botanically, pernambuco or Pernambuco, Brazilian Pau Brazil (bot.: Guilandia echinata, synon.: Caesalpinia echinata) belongs to the Fabaceae, a group of papilionaceous plants. The species is native to north-eastern Brazil, in the so-called Mata Atlantica. The tree has been valued there since the 16th century for its dye-containing wood. As the main export product (!), pernambuco was of great importance in the 16th – 18th centuries and gave the country its name: brasa is Portuguese for “ember”.

Pernambuco was declared the tree of Brazil and quickly placed under protection. However, it was neither dyewood collectors nor bow makers who caused the decline in timber volumes, but pulp mills and the agro-industry. Large areas of its original range have been converted into industrial plantations and are now used for the industrial production of sugar cane, Eucalptus pulpwood and Robusta coffee. It is known that pernambuco is easy and inexpensive to propagate and reforest. However, its “cultivation” is less profitable than the production of the above-mentioned cash crops. In addition, the wood grows much more slowly, so planting is hardly economically competitive with fast-growing plantations.

Wood appearance: Sapwood: whitish to light brown, sharply contrasting with the heartwood. Heartwood fresh orange-red often with brown streaks, later darkening to red-brown. The pores are fine to medium sized, scattered, the grain is mostly parallel and straight-grained, occasionally alternating. Overall different wood in color, texture and growth quality.

Properties: The specific weight at u=12% is given as 0.80 – 1.00 – 1.10 ^t/m3;. Light and light wood: Pau Brasil Claro, darker and heavier parts: Pau Brasil Oscuro. Pernambuco dries slowly without deformation; careful storage and sealing on the face side are recommended to prevent surface cracks. No technical drying usual. Moderate shrinkage, good stamina. Hard to very hard. Can be easily processed with all tools if the grain is straight. Beautiful surfaces are possible. The wood is not very sensitive to moisture and is particularly weather-resistant, which is why it was also used in house construction and as pasture fences (!). The bending stiffness reaches 16,000 – 18,000 ^N/mm2 and can even be higher for selected logs.

Uses: bow making, woodturning articles such as writing utensils, furniture, art objects. Formerly construction timber for outdoor use, pasture posts and dyed wood until the introduction of synthetic aniline dyes