When Portuguese explorers landed in South America in the early 1500s, they encountered a tree with red-colored sap. It was similar to a tree native to Asia, whose sap was used to dye luxury garments in Europe, and because it cost far less than importing it from India, the South American source quickly became a valuable trading commodity.
The value of its deep red wood was already known to the people native to those forests. The colonizing merchants named the tree "pau brasil" — pau" means wood and "brasil" is the word for a glowing red charcoal ember. It inspired the name "Land of Brazil."
“Pernambuco” is the common name for its orange-red wood. Its interlocked grain gives it fine texture, remarkable elasticity, and a lovely natural luster.
For centuries, those properties made it the top choice for making violin and cello bows. But global demand for the tree — first for dye and then for making music — has pushed the species to dangerously low levels.
But demand from musicians is only a tiny part of the problem. The real issue is the rampant conversion of its habitat for farming and human development. The tree can only thrive in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, which has shrunk to just 5% of its original area. In 2007, the IUCN listed it as an endangered species.
Still, hope remains. Music lovers and conservationists have collaborated to create a group called "Trees for Music” that empowers farmers to regenerate these trees and their ecosystem, and advocates using alternative for woods and carbon fiber for music-making.
Today, Brazil is well-known for its vast rainforests and the music-loving people who live there. Little did those Portuguese colonizers know when they named this nation how appropriate that name would be.
