Etymology
When Portuguese explorers found these trees on the coast of South America, they used the name pau-brasil to describe them. Pau is Portuguese for "stick" (or, by metonymy, "wood" in general), and brasil is said to have come from brasa, Portuguese for "ember", meaning "emberlike". The wood of this tree has a deep red hue, which may be why it received this name. Pau-brasil had been earlier used to describe a different species of tree found in Asia and other places, called Sappanwood which also produced red dye; but the South American trees soon became the better source of red dye. Brazilwood trees were such a large part of the exports and economy of the land that the country which sprang up in that part of the world took its name from them and is now called Brazil.
Botanically, several tree species are involved, all in the family Fabaceae (the pulse family). The term "brazilwood" is most often used to refer to the species Caesalpinia echinata, but it is also applied to other species, such as Caesalpinia sappan. The tree is also known by other names, as ibirapitanga, Tupi for "red wood"; or pau de pernambuco, named after the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.
In the bow-making business it is usual to refer to some species other than Caesalpinia echinata as "Brazilwood"; examples include Pink Ipê (Tabebuia impetiginosa), Massaranduba (Manilkara bidentata) and Palo Brasil (Haematoxylum brasiletto). The highly prized Caesalpinia echinata is usually called "Pernambuco wood" in this particular context.
Read more about this topic: Caesalpinia Echinata
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