the.com/ironwood
a tree so dense it sinks in water and laughs at saws.
means A common name for any of various unrelated trees and shrubs whose wood is exceptionally hard, heavy, and dense.
from A plain English compound of 'iron' and 'wood,' the kind of name people coin by reaching for the toughest thing they know — iron — to describe a wood that blunts blades and refuses to float. It isn't a single species but a nickname handed out independently around the world to whatever local tree proved hardest to cut, so 'ironwood' in one place may be a completely different plant from 'ironwood' in another.
- density
- some species sink straight to the bottom
- longevity
- desert ironwoods live over 800 years
- hardness
- dulls blades and bends nails
- nurse plant
- shelters seedlings beneath its thorny canopy
- naming
- dozens of unrelated trees claim the title
ironwood state prison — maximum-security prison in blythe, california, opened 1994
ironwood tree species — dense hardwood from tropical trees like krugiodendron ferreum, used for tool handles and fuel