Palo Santo, sacred tree
After the natural fall of the tree, this wood must cure naturally, which takes an estimated time of between 4-8 years, where various insects and small animals settle all over the wood, transforming the sap and the trunk. After this long process, this wood can be collected from the forests, and has already acquired its strong and unique Palo Santo aroma.
Currently, Peru and Ecuador have specific laws for Palo Santo extraction, and cutting down the tree is illegal. However, when Palo Santo is obtained from a tree that was cut while it was alive, it is known that the natural time of the entire process was not respected since the result is a wood without aroma, which burns quickly and is yellow in color. very light, almost white. The aroma should be sweet and woody.
The Peruvian Palo Santo is not considered an endangered tree. There are other species of Palo Santo distributed in the Galapagos Islands, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, such as Bulnesia sarmientoi, Bursera malacophylla, Guaiacum officinale, Guaiacum sanctum, some of which are mentioned in the list of “ endangered species” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but they are not the aromatic aromatic wood used for centuries and known worldwide as Palo Santo.
The visual appearance of Palo Santo indicates, through its yellowish or orange coloration, whether it is the species Bursera graveolens, and the darker its coloration, the longer it rested in the forest and the more time it had for its transformation process.
In addition to incense or as an insect repellent, it is also considered a medicinal plant; The infusion of the leaves relieves coughing attacks. The wood is also used in the form of tea, through decoction, to relieve flu symptoms, such as cough and fever, and should be used in low quantities since its taste is very bitter.