Ethnobotanical and general use Bark, leaves and galls contain 10-17 tannin (of dry weight) and are used for tanning and medicinal purposes. Bark and leaves are astringent and tonic and used as such in popular medicine. The wood is very strong, hard and atrractive; it is even resistant to dry-wood termites and durable in contact with the soil. It is used for carts, gates, fences, sometimes for construction and repair of farm buildings. It is suitable for heavy-duty flooring, work benches, machinery platforms, heavy durable exterior construction work, railroad ties, piling in nonteredo areas, house posts, bridge lumber, firewood and fuel. In Cuba, withes of the tree are seasoned in salt water and twisted into cables (cujes) from which tobacco is suspended for curing.

South American medicinal plants : botany, remedial properties, and general use / I. Roth, H. Lindorf. Berlin ; New York : Springer, c2002. -- p. 492.