Logwood tree Bonsai

Logwood is a dye-producing tree legume originating in Central America, its natural range extending from southern Mexico to neighbouring Guatemala and Belize. Introduced long ago into other parts of tropical America, it is now naturalised across Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America.

It is a small, thorny deciduous tree 5 to 10 m (16 to 32 ft) tall, typically with a short trunk or with multiple stems supporting a rounded crown of arching, gently drooping branches. The upright stems are deeply fluted, sometimes twisted and covered in grey or brown bark.

Leaves are 5 to 12 cm (2 to 4.7 in) long and feathery, consisting of light- to dark-green wedge-shaped leaflets arranged in pairs along the length. They fall from the tree in the dry season to conserve water, leaving the branches partially bare until the new leaves emerge, which is at the start of the rainy season.

Flowers are small, five-petaled, pale yellow, ill-scented and borne in cylindrical clusters up to 7.5 cm (3 in) long, arising at the leaf base. They come into bloom in the dry season and are followed by flat seedpods 2 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2 in) long, becoming dry, light brown and with up to three flat brown seed inside.

General interest

In his song ‘No woman no cry’, Bob Marley refers to the use of Logwood as firewood, in the verse ‘Georgie would make a fire light, as it was logwood burning through the night’.

Climate

Grows naturally in sub-humid to moderately humid tropical lowland climates, generally in frost-free areas with annual lows of 18 to 25°C, annual highs of 27 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 900 to 2000 mm and a dry season of 3 to 6 months.

Logwood has long been introduced in Jamaica and has naturalised there, mainly on the island’s south coast, at elevations from near sea level up to 460 m (1500 ft), where the average low of the warmest month is 20°C (68°F) or warmer.

Growing

New plants are usually started from seed, which remain viable for up to eight months under cold, dry storage and germinate readily, with about half sprouting after three weeks.

Performs best on free- to slow-draining clay, loam, sand and gravel soils of a moderately acid to alkaline nature, generally with a pH of 5.5 to 8.5 and on sites with full to partial sun exposure. It has good tolerance to seasonal flooding and poorly drained, swampy soils. However, heavy soils are reportedly unfavourable to the production of the dye.

Stems harvested for extracting the dye are usually ready to be cut when the plant is about ten to twelve years old.