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Quebracho

Schinopsis balansae

Also called Red Quebracho, Willow Leaf Red Quebracho

Quebracho
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain

Schinopsis balansae, red quebracho, is a large hardwood tree from the Chaco and Pantanal of South America, grown mainly for tannin-rich heartwood. It is a large forest tree rather than a common garden or houseplant, so growing advice is general.

Family
Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Deep, infrequent watering once established; tolerates seasonal drought.
Soil
Well-drained, deep soil; tolerates poor, dry soils.
Temperature
Warm tropical to subtropical conditions; frost-sensitive when young, mid-20s °C ideal.
How easy
Hard
Native range
WC. Brazil to N. Argentina
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Schinopsis balansae is a hardwood tree known as willow-leaf red quebracho which forms forests in the subtropical Humid Chaco ecoregion of north-eastern Argentina, and Paraguay. It is also found in the wild Pantanal vegetation in Brazil. Some of its vernacular names are quebracho colorado chaqueño and quebracho santafesino. Other species, like Schinopsis lorentzii, bear the general name quebracho and have similar properties and uses. S. balansae shares its habitat with a species of the same genus, S. heterophylla, and the two are often confused.

This tree can reach 24 metres in height and more than one metre in diameter. Its trunk is straight, with a brownish-gray bark. Its wood is extremely heavy (relative density = 1.2). Its main use is the extraction of quebracho extract, which is 63% pure tannin.

Safety

Leuco-fisetinidin, a flavan-3,4-diol (leucoanthocyanidin) and a monomer of the condensed tannins called profisetinidins, can be extracted from the heartwoods of S. balansae.

Other Schinopsis plants

Schinopsis lorentzii

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Schinopsis balansae by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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