| Haematoxylum campechianum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Tribe: | Caesalpinieae |
| Genus: | Haematoxylum |
| Species: | H. campechianum |
| Binomial name | |
| Haematoxylum campechianum L., 1753 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Haematoxylum campechianum (blackwood,bloodwood tree,bluewood,campeachy tree,campeachy wood,campeche logwood,campeche wood,Jamaica wood,logwood orlogwood tree)[2] is a species offloweringtree in thelegume family,Fabaceae, that is native to southernMexico, and introduced to theCaribbean, northernCentral America, and other localities around the world.[3]
The tree was of great economic importance from the 17th century to the 19th century, when it was commonly logged and exported to Europe for use indyeing fabrics.[4][5] The modern nation ofBelize developed from 17th- and 18th-centurylogging camps established by theEnglish. The tree's scientific name means "bloodwood" (haima beingGreek for blood andxylon for wood).
Haematoxylum campechianum was used for a long time as a natural source ofdye.[6] The woodchips are still used as an important source ofhaematoxylin, which is used inhistology forstaining.[6]Thebark andleaves are also used in various medical applications. In its time, it was considered a versatile dye, and was widely used ontextiles and also forpaper.[7]
The extract was once used as apH indicator. Brownish when neutral, it becomes yellow reddish under acidic conditions and purple when alkaline.[7] In a small demonstrative experiment, if two drops, one of concentratedammonia and one of logwood extract, are placed close enough, the NH3 vapours will change the color of the extract to a purple shade.[8]
Logwood also played an important role in the lives of 17th-centurybuccaneers and into theGolden Age of Piracy. Spain claimed all of Central andSouth America as its sovereign territory through the 17th and 18th centuries; despite this, English, Dutch, and French sailors recognized the value of logwood and set up camps to cut and collect the trees for shipment back to Europe. Spain periodically sent privateers to capture the logwood cutters – for example,Juan Corso's 1680 cruise – sometimes in retaliation for buccaneer raids on Spanish cities.[9] Logwood cutters, now out of work, frequently joined onto pirate and buccaneer crews to raid the Spanish in return, asEdmund Cooke did after losing two logwood-hauling ships to the Spanish.[10] When Spanish forces ejected a great many hunters and logwood cutters in 1715, they flocked toNassau and swelled the already-considerable numbers of pirates gathering there.[11] By the mid-1720s logwood cutters had themselves become targets of pirates such asFrancis Spriggs,Edward Low, andGeorge Lowther;[12] pirate captainsSamuel Bellamy andBlackbeard went further, turning captured logwood-haulingsloops into pirate vessels.[13]Logwood cutting was profitable – "According to a government report, in the four years 1713 to 1716, some 4,965 tons of logwood were exported to England at not less than £60,000 per annum" – but brought in only a fraction of the profits from tobacco and other legal exports, and "was always a minor industry carried on by a few hundred ex-seamen and pirates in a remote corner of the globe".[14]
| Techniques |  | |
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| Types of dyes | ||
| Traditional textile dyes | ||
| History | ||
| Craft dyes | ||
| Reference | ||
