Amburana cearensis is a species of timber tree in the family Fabaceae. The heartwood is basically yellow to brown, and the sapwood colour is distinct from it. The wood is diffuse-porous, and its growth ring boundaries are distinct, indistinct or absent. The species is not protected under CITES regulations.
Origin and botany
The tree is native to northern, eastern and west-central Brazil, northwestern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. It is typical of open and deciduous tropical forests and is commonly found in Brazilian caatinga and cerrado regions. Its leaves are composed of 7 to 15 leaflets, which are elliptical to oval. The species is endangered, and habitat loss threatens it.
Wood anatomy
Vessels are arranged in no specific pattern, in multiples or in short radial rows of two or three, and their outlines are rounded. The average tangential vessel diameter is 145 to 230 μm, and there are only 2 to 6 vessels per square millimetre. Perforation plates are simple, and tyloses in the vessels are absent. Fibres have walls of medium thickness and an average length of 700 to 1000 μm. Rays are multiseriate, with 4 to 6 (rarely 7) per tangential millimetre. Prismatic crystals occur in ray cells and axial parenchyma cells, while oil and mucilage cells and intercellular canals are absent.
Identification tests
The heartwood is fluorescent, but the water and ethanol extracts are not. The water extract is basically colourless to brown, and the ethanol extract is basically yellow or a shade of yellow. The chrome azurol-S test is negative, and the froth test is slightly positive. A splinter burns to partial ash, which is white to grey.
Chemistry
Chemical studies of the plant mainly isolate coumarins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, glycosylated phenols, phenylpropanoid derivatives and triterpenoids. Analysis of bark extracts led to the isolation of coumarin and amburoside A and B. Other compounds found in the stem bark include dihydrocoumarin, scopoletin, catechol, guaiacol, chrysophanol, lupeol and amyrins. A methanol extract of the resin contained calycosin, odoratin, butein and isoliquiritigenin. Ethanol extracts of young cultivated plants contained vanillic acid and coumarin.
Uses
The stem bark, leaves and seeds are used in popular medicine as teas, infusions and decoctions for respiratory disorders such as asthma, sinusitis and bronchitis. Cachaça barrel ageing employs native Brazilian trees such as zebrawood and amburana, though many of these trees are endangered due to deforestation.
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Related: Almond Tree · Ambrox Super · Amyris · Blonde Woods · Caoutchouc · Cashalox · Cashmir Wood · Cetonal
