Guaiacum Officinale

Common name: Wayaka, Wayaca, Pokhout.
Height: Reaching about 10 m (33 ft) in height with a trunk diameter of 60 cm (24 in).
Features: The tree is essentially evergreen throughout most of its native range. The leaves are compound, 2.5–3 cm (0.98–1.18 in) in length, and 2 cm (0.79 in) wide. The blue flowers have five petals that yield a bright-yellow-orange fruit with red flesh and black seeds.

guaiacum officinale wayaka flowers

 

guaiacum officinale wayaka seeds

Propagation: Easy from seeds. The moment you put a fence around your garden ( and protect it from goats and donkeys) little Wayaka seedlings will appear brought by the birds.
Growing: Once established doesn't need much water.
Location: A largish tree so give it space but put it somewhere you can see it as it attracts so much wildlife. 
Conservation: Roughbark lignum-vitae was listed as an endangered species by the IUCN in 1998.

guaiacum officinale trunk

guaiacum officinale seedling

Little seedings of Guaiacum Officinale

Especially in and around Kralendijk you will see this endangered evergreen tree. Even with sever drought it will keep it leaves. It blooms profusely a few times a year which attracts a whole host of pollinators and birds. The wood is one of the hardest. The timber and medicinal resin have been traded for several centuries as lignum-vitae and overexploitation has taken place throughout the species range.