Small Central American tree with deeply furrowed bark and small yellow flowers. The dark red-purple heartwood produces a wide range of purple and black dyes used historically for ink, cloth, and microscopy stains.
Hardiness ratings
| System | Rating | Temperature range | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA hardiness zone | Zone 10–12 | −1.1 °C to 15.6 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| RHS hardiness rating | H1c | 5 °C to 10 °C | Plant needs at least this level of cold tolerance |
| Canadian plant hardiness zone | Zone 9 | −1 °C and warmer | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| Australian (ANBG) zone | Zone 5–7 | 5 °C and warmer | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
Growing notes
- Purple-to-black dye (haematein, from haematoxylin) extracted from chips of the heartwood
- The principal historical source of the haematoxylin stain still used today in medical histology to stain cell nuclei purple-blue
- Heavily exploited from the 16th century onwards — drove the early Belize economy and the establishment of British settlement there
- Frost-tender — strictly warm-climate cultivation
- Not reliably hardy outdoors in Canada — Canadian zone values shown represent the system maximum and do not imply garden cultivation north of the warmest coastal pockets.
Categories
Related plants
Cross-check Logwood against your zones