Guaiacum officinale

Guaiacum officinale
    n 1: small evergreen tree of Caribbean and southern Central
         America to northern South America; a source of lignum vitae
         wood, hardest of commercial timbers, and a medicinal resin
         [syn: {lignum vitae}, {Guaiacum officinale}]
    

Guaiacum \Gua"ia*cum\, n. [NL., fr. Sp. guayaco, from native
   name in Haiti.]
   1. (Bot.) A genus of small, crooked trees, growing in
      tropical America.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The heart wood or the resin of the {Guaiacum officinale}
      or lignum-vit[ae], a large tree of the West Indies and
      Central America. It is much used in medicine. [Written
      also {guaiac}.]
      [1913 Webster]
    

Lignum-vitae \Lig"num-vi"tae\ (l[i^]g"n[u^]m v[imac]"t[=e]), n.
   [L., wood of life; lignum wood + vita, genitive vit[ae],
   life.] (Bot.)
   A tree ({Guaiacum officinale}) found in the warm latitudes of
   America, from which the {guaiacum} of medicine is procured.
   Its wood is very hard and heavy, and is used for various
   mechanical purposes, as for the wheels of ships' blocks,
   cogs, bearings, and the like. See {Guaiacum}.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: In New Zealand the {Metrosideros buxifolia} is called
         lignum-vit[ae], and in Australia a species of {Acacia}.
         The bastard lignum-vit[ae] is a West Indian tree
         ({Sarcomphalus laurinus}).
         [1913 Webster]