| DESCRIPTION: It is an extremely slow-growing broadleaf evergreen shrub or tree reaching 3-13 m or even 20 m in height, with the same spread casting light shade, often with a beautiful array of multiple trunks and a rounded canopy. The leaves are 2-5 cm long, leathery and dark green. Flowers are deep blue in clusters, the old flowers fading to a light silvery-blue. The berries are small, heart-shaped and yellow. USE: It is grown as an ornamental, e.g. as a lawn tree, along sidewalks and parking places. The wood has medicinal properties and is used as a mild laxative and diuretic. For tonsilitis it is given in powdered form. Specially useful for rheumatoid arthritis, also in chronic rheumatism and gout, relieving the pain and inflammation between the attacks, and lessening their recurrence if doses are continued. It acts as an acrid stimulant, increasing heat of body and circulation, when the decoction is taken hot and the body is kept warm, it acts as a diaphoretic, and if cool as a diuretic. Also largely used for secondary syphilis, skin diseases and scrofula. The leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for soap. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. COMMON NAMES: Lignumvitae. FURTHER INF: It has a wide distribution in the Florida Keys, the Caribbean and Central America, where it occurs wild in lowland dry forests. It can be grown in full sun or partial shade on a wide variety of soils, including alkaline. Plants will easily tolerate wet or dry soil, wind, and salt, making it an ideal choice especially for seaside plantings. |
