About Schinopsis balansae Engl.
Schinopsis balansae Engl. is a hardwood tree commonly called willow-leaf red quebracho. This species forms forests in the subtropical Humid Chaco ecoregion of northeastern Argentina and Paraguay, and also grows wild in the Pantanal vegetation of Brazil. Its common local names include quebracho colorado chaqueño and quebracho santafesino. Other species in the same genus, such as Schinopsis lorentzii, share the general name quebracho and have similar properties and uses. Schinopsis balansae shares its habitat with another congeneric species, S. heterophylla, and the two are often confused with one another. Mature trees can reach 24 meters in height and grow to more than 1 meter in trunk diameter. The trunk is straight, with brownish-gray bark. The wood is extremely dense, with a relative density of 1.2. The main use of the species is extraction of quebracho extract, which is 63% pure tannin. In 1956, Schinopsis balansae was declared Argentina's "National Forest Tree".
