Greenheart

Wood so hard and heavy that it sinks and shipworms cannot touch it – Guyanese greenheart built the ports and locks of Europe.

Greenheart is a tall tree of the laurel family growing to 30–40 m, with a straight trunk and olive-greenish heartwood, which gives it its English name. Its wood is exceptionally dense, heavy and resistant to rot, termites and marine shipworms. For this reason, from the 19th century onwards it was exported to build harbour wharves, breakwaters, lock gates and jetties. It grows in equatorial forests on well-drained soils in the north-central part of the country. Its seeds and bark were once the source of a bitter alkaloid, bebeerine, used against fever.

Significance in the country

Greenheart occurs almost exclusively in Guyana and for decades was its most famous export timber – a symbol of the country’s forest wealth.

Where it grows

In the “greenheart belt” – the forests of north-central Guyana, in the basins of the Demerara, Essequibo, Mazaruni and Berbice rivers.

More: Wikipedia (en)