Logwood

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Logwood \Log"wood`\n. [So called from being imported in logs.]
     The heartwood of a tree ({H[ae]matoxylon Campechianum}), a
     native of South America, It is a red, heavy wood, containing
     a crystalline substance called h[ae]matoxylin, and is used
     largely in dyeing. An extract from this wood is used in
     medicine as an astringent. Also called {Campeachy wood}, and


     {bloodwood}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  logwood
       n 1: very hard brown to brownish-red heartwood of a logwood tree;
            used in preparing a purplish red dye
       2: spiny shrub or small tree of Central America and West Indies
          having bipinnate leaves and racemes of small bright yellow
          flowers and yielding a hard brown or brownish-red
          heartwood used in preparing a black dye [syn: {logwood
          tree}, {campeachy}, {bloodwood tree}, {Haematoxylum
          campechianum}]