Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lignum Vitae, Latin for "wood of life," is a tropical American evergreen tree of the genus Guajacum. The hard, dense, and durable wood, obtained chiefly from G. officinale and G. sanctum, is important for ship construction and other uses requiring strength and hardness. The trees are grown in Florida and California for ornament. They also yield guajacum, a gum resin used in certain drugs. Lignum vitae is the national flower of Jamaica. Various other hardwoods of Australasia (e.g., the acacia and eucalyptus) are also called lignum vitae. Placement Kingdom Plantae -- plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta Superdivision Spermatophyta Division Magnoliophyta -- angiosperms, flowering plants Class Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons Subclass Rosidae Order Sapindales Family Zygophyllaceae Genus Guajacum This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.