A tropical tree native to the West Indies and Central America, with hard, resonant wood historically used to make stringed instruments similar to the cithara.
From Greek kithara (the musical instrument) plus xylon (wood), literally meaning 'cithara-wood.' The name reflects the tree's traditional use in crafting resonant wood for musical instruments.
The naming of this tree reveals how colonial Europeans were borrowing indigenous knowledge about which woods resonated best—they literally named a Caribbean tree after a Greek instrument because they recognized it produced the same acoustic properties, which is a beautiful example of how technology drives botany.
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