Guaiacum sanctum, commonly known as holywood, lignum vitae or holywood lignum-vitae, is a species of flowering plant in the creosote bush family, Zygophyllaceae. It is native to tropical America, from Mexico through Central America, Florida, the Caribbean, and northern South America.U.S. National Plant Germplasm System It has been introduced to other tropical areas of the world. It is currently threatened by habitat loss in its native region, and as such, is currently rated near threatened on the IUCN Red List. Guaiacum sanctum is the national tree of the Bahamas.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: 8.39 m · USDA: 9.14 m · TRY: 20.12 m
Seed mass333 mg
⚠ sources differ — TRY: 333 mg · GIFT: 225 mg
Seed mass max333 mg
Seed mass min333 mg
Life cycle & reproduction21
Bloom periodSpring
Coppice potentialNo
Deciduousnessevergreen
Dispersal typeanimal
Flower colourblue
Flower conspicuousYes
Fruit seed period beginSpring
Fruit seed period endFall
Growth rate USDASlow
Life formtree
Life spanperennial
Propagated by bare rootNo
Propagated by bulbNo
Propagated by containerNo
Propagated by cormNo
Propagated by cuttingsNo
Propagated by seedYes
Propagated by sodNo
Propagated by sprigsNo
Propagated by tubersNo
Resprout abilityNo
Diet & foraging1
Parasiteindependent
Habitat & environment23
Active growth periodSpring
Adapted to coarse textured soilsYes
Adapted to fine textured soilsYes
Adapted to medium textured soilsNo
Aquaticterrestrial
BloatNone
Climatewet tropical
Climberself-supporting
Epiphyteterrestrial
Foliage colorGreen
Foliage porosity summerDense
Foliage porosity winterDense
Foliage textureMedium
Fruit colouryellow
Growth formtree
Hedge toleranceLow
Known allelopathNo
Leaf retentionYes
Low growing grassNo
Root depth min36 in
Shape and orientationRounded
Small grainNo
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry17
Anaerobic toleranceLow
Caco3 toleranceMedium
Cold stratification requiredNo
Drought toleranceMedium
Fertility requirementMedium
Fire resistantNo
Fire toleranceMedium
Frost free days min365 days
Nitrogen fixation levelNone
Nitrogen fixingnon_nitrogen_fixer
Precipitation max60 in
Precipitation min34 in
Soil pH max8.5 pH
Soil pH min6 pH
Specific leaf area (SLA)7.37 mm²/mg
Temperature min36 °F
Wood density1 043 mg/cm³
Uses & economy13
Berry nut seed productNo
Christmas tree productNo
Fodder productNo
Lumber productYes
Naval store productNo
Nursery stock productNo
Palatable browse animalLow
Palatable graze animalLow
Palatable humanNo
Post productYes
Pulpwood productNo
Seeds per pound44 000 per lb
Veneer productYes
Other traits6
Fall conspicuousNo
Fruit seed conspicuousYes
Fruit seed persistenceYes
Height at 20yr4.57 m
Planting density max640 per acre
Planting density min320 per acre
03Chemical composition4 compounds
Compounds documented for Guaiacum sanctum across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Furanoid lignans $ Neolignans4
Documented compounds4 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
Ramonanin A, (rel)-
present
LOTUS
Ramonanin B, (rel)-
present
LOTUS
Ramonanin C, (rel)-
present
LOTUS
Ramonanin D
present
LOTUS
05DNA & barcoding23 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Guaiacum sanctum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens23
Marker genes6
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections18
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK1★rbcL2★rbcLa★ITS7★ITS2trnH-psbA
plant barcodefungal barcodemarker
07Deep time0.01–0 Ma
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
Fossil range0.01–0 Ma Pleistocene, Holocene
Dated fossil finds1
StatusStill living record runs to the present
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The solid bar is the fossil range: the span between the oldest and the youngest fossil that palaeontologists have assigned to Guaiacum sanctum. Above itBeside it, each dot is one dated fossil find — few enough to count, so they are drawn individually rather than as a graph.
fossil range (PBDB)each dot = one dated find
How it livedPBDB
Dietphotoautotroph
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type2 238 records
Wild obs. + sensor1 310
Museum / vouchered927
Fossil1
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO2 976 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy92% within 1 km
≤100 m 362≤1 km 99≤10 km 16>10 km 26
503 georeferenced · 807 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor1 310
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy76% within 1 km
≤100 m 231≤1 km 24≤10 km 58>10 km 22
335 georeferenced · 592 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence927
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions48 of 67 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Saint Louis, US
163
Durango, MX
65
Mexico City, MX
65
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
62
Mérida, MX
62
Miami, US
61
Bronx, US
58
Tapachula, MX
29
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
26
San Francisco de Campeche, MX
22
Kew, GB
16
Mexico City, MX
16
Guatemala City, GT
15
Dekalb, US
14
Berlin, DE
11
León, NI
10
Tampa, US
10
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
8
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX
8
Austin, US
8
Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV
7
Mérida, MX
7
Guatemala, GT
6
San José, CR
6
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
6
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX
6
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
4
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
4
Area de Conservacion Guanacastelocation not on record
3
MAlocation not on record
3
Tempe, US
3
Mexico City, MX
3
South Kensington, GB
3
MEXUlocation not on record
3
BMlocation not on record
3
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record
3
Montréal, CA
3
Chapingo, MX
2
Anchorage, US
2
Wuzhou, CN
2
San Francisco, US
2
San Diego, US
2
Madison, US
2
Chicago, US
1
Blacksburg, US
1
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record
1
ASUlocation not on record
1
Honolulu, US
1
Claremont, US
1
Auckland, NZ
1
Stockholm, SE
1
University of Oxfordlocation not on record
1
Austin, US
1
WTUlocation not on record
1
St. Augustine, TT
1
Burlington, US
1
Phoenix, US
1
Paris, FR
1
Cambridge, US
1
Managua, NI
1
Universidad Nacional Agrarialocation not on record
1
Calabar, NG
1
OTSlocation not on record
1
Sangmiung Universitylocation not on record
1
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemalalocation not on record
1
Edinburgh, GB
1
Fort Worth, US
1
67 institutions · 838 of 927 vouchered records shown · 89 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA18 detections
Where the DNA of Guaiacum sanctum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found18
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 18 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median28.2 °C 28.2–28.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter2.00 °C
Max temp (day)31.2 °C
Min temp (night)25.7 °C
Precipitation18.3 mm/mo
Air humidity57.3 %
Vapour deficit1,627 Pa
Cloud cover16.0 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 3 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation6 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility2 237 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI18 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics23 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗