Chlorocardium rodiei

Chlorocardium rodiei (greenheart) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae. It is one of three species in the genus Chlorocardium. It is native to Guyana and Suriname, both in South America.^[1] Other common names include cogwood, demerara greenheart, greenhart, ispingo moena,^[1] sipiri, bebeeru and bibiru.

Chlorocardium rodiei
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Lauraceae
Genus:	Chlorocardium
Species:	C. rodiei
Binomial name
Chlorocardium rodiei (M.R.Schomb.) Rohwer et al.
Synonyms
Nectandra rodiei Ocotea rodiei

It is an evergreen tree growing 15 to 30 m tall, with a trunk diameter of 35 to 60 cm. Its leaves are oppositely arranged and simple with smooth edges. Its fruit is a drupe containing a single seed.

Greenheart wood was used to build the gate for the Manchester Dock in Liverpool.

The cyclic bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid rodiasine was first isolated from this species. The wood is extremely hard and strong and so it cannot be worked with standard tools. It is durable in marine conditions and so it is used to build docks and other structures, and it was an early choice for fly fishing rods. An estimated 15 to 28% of the original population has been harvested. Its use as a commercial timber began in the late 18th century, but most harvesting has taken place since the introduction of chainsaws in 1967.

It is often sought for construction projects in parts of the Caribbean, where wood ants are problematic in conventional pine wood construction. It was also used to build the dock gates in Liverpool, such as the Manchester dock gate. It has been used extensively as marine piling, since it is highly resistant to marine borers. It is also extremely dense and does not float. It thus requires special water transport arrangement and is loaded onto specially-constructed pontoons for transport to sawmills or direct shipping overseas. As sawn lumber, it requires special treatment and saws with tungsten carbide teeth since standard steel saw blades cannot be maintained sharp enough to cut any reasonable quantity.

Greenheart was used to sheath the Norwegian fir planks that made up Ernest Shackleton's barkentine icebreaker, Endurance^{[citation needed]} and the keel of the United States Coast Guard cutter USS Bear.^[2]