quebracho
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Related to quebracho: lignum vitae, Lignum vitæ
quebracho
(kābrä`chō), name for a tanning substance and for the trees from which it comes, chiefly the red quebracho, or quebracho colorado (Schinopsis lorentzii), of the family Anacardiaceae (sumacsumacor sumach
, common name for some members of the Anacardiaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native chiefly to the tropics but ranging into north temperate regions and characterized by resinous, often acrid, sap.
..... Click the link for more information. family). This hardwood tree, native to the Paraguayan subtropics, supplies one of the most durable and heavy of timbers. It also provides much of the vegetable tannin for the leather industry although the populations are being depleted. The heartwood, stripped of its bark and subjected to extraction processes, is about 30% tannin. Quebracho is obtained chiefly from wild trees of the forests of the Gran Chaco of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. White quebracho (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco) of the dogbanedogbane,
common name for some members of the Apocynaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and trees found in most parts of the world but especially in the tropics, where they are often climbing forms. Many species are native to or naturalized in North America.
..... Click the link for more information. family is one of the other hardwoods similarly used and is native to the same region. Red quebracho is classified in the division MagnoliophytaMagnoliophyta
, division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Anacardiaceae.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Quebracho
the name of several subtropical species of South American trees and of their wood, bark, and tanning extracts. The species Schinopsis balansae and S. quebracho-colorado (also known as S. lorentzii) of the family Anacardiaceae have a hard heavy wood containing approximately 20 percent tannins. The bark of Aspidosperma quebracho-bianco of the family Apocynaceae contains alkaloids (the most active, yohimbine) and approximately 25 percent tannins.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
quebracho
[kā′bra·chō] (botany)
Any of a number of South American trees in different genera in the order Sapindales, but all being a valuable source of wood, bark, and tannin.
(materials)
A drilling-fluid additive used for thinning or dispersing in order to control viscosity and thixotropy; made from an extract of the quebracho tree and consisting essentially of tannic acid.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.