Lignum vitae

The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America (e.g., Colombia and Venezuela) and have been an important export crop to Europe since the beginning of the 16th century.

The plant derives its name from its medicinal uses; lignum vitae resin has been used to treat a variety of medical conditions from coughs to arthritis.

Lignum vitae is hard and durable, and is also the densest wood traded (average dried density: ~79 lb/ft3 or ~1,260 kg/m3);[4] it will easily sink in water.

It was the traditional wood used for the British police truncheon until recently because of both its density and its strength, combined with its relative softness compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise rather than cut the skin.

Due to its density and natural oils, they rarely require replacement, despite the severity of typical marine weathering conditions, and also resist jamming in their mortise holes.

[citation needed] The wood is covered with powdered industrial diamond, attached to a spindle, and used to smooth rough surfaces of gems.

According to the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association website, the shaft bearings on the WWII submarine USS Pampanito (SS-383) were made of this wood.

The properties of lignum vitae, namely its ability to withstand high stress (from heavy cables on long spans and the strain of lines rounding corners) and high temperature (from the feeder cables' becoming very hot during peak operating hours), and its ready availability from the holds of the ships in the harbor (where it served as dunnage and ballast) made it an ideal "temporary" solution.

[11][12] It was also used extensively in the manufacture of British Railways Mark 1 rolling stock, as a "bump stop" in the bogies (the frame that carries the wheels).

Gabriel García Márquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera includes a bathtub made of this wood in one of the main characters' homes.

In Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, one of the characters, Matthew Bagnet is referred to as lignum vitae, "in compliment to the extreme hardness and toughness of his physiognomy."