In different corners of the planet there are its own species of wood, which are called "iron".
In Russia, there is its own attraction, which is called Schmidt's birch. A mighty plant is common in the Primorsky Territory, its wood is several times more powerful than cast iron (a pistol bullet flies from the birch trunk). Wood has several advantages over metal: it does not rot, does not corrode, and even acids are not afraid of it. Also, the breed is fire resistant. However, Schmidt's birch is a very rare plant, it is listed in the Red Book and is protected by law.
The tree got its name in honor of the Russian scientist F.B.Schmidt, who discovered the plant. On the planet it is the most durable birch, it lives up to 400 years.
The iron tree reaches 25 meters in height with a trunk diameter of 80 cm. The beige, grayish-cream birch bark exfoliates and peels, in young plants it is dark cherry in color. The tree has short leaves with an oval shape.
However, the plant is valued not only by wood. It has excellent medical properties. So leaves, buds are used in the form of infusion or decoction for the treatment of edema, dropsy, gout, urolithiasis, rheumatism. The plant can be used as a choleretic agent for the treatment of acute and chronic forms of eczema, wounds, depriving, acne.
Iron tree - Schmidt's birch can also be found in China, in the north of Korea, in Japan on the island of Honshu.
In the world there are other breeds of iron tree.
So there are plants in the African region. Prickly Argania - an iron tree unknown to the Russian region is distributed in the Dra River Valley, in southwestern Morocco. The tree provides the life of Moroccan Berbers. According to scientists, in the southwestern part of Morocco, there are more than 2 million of these strong plants. But millions of years ago, there were entire forests of iron trees that covered the expanses of southern Europe and North Africa.
Moroccan tribes call the plant a tree of life, because thanks to it, the Berbers receive building materials, fuel, food for themselves and animal feed, medicine and oil. Frameworks for huts are made from the branches of Argania, leaves are used to feed livestock, fuel is obtained from the branches, furniture and other products are created from the trunks.
Prickly argania can reach 10-meter height, the crown circumference is 15 meters. The plant has long roots, which in search of moisture penetrate the ground up to 30 meters in depth. On the branches are thorns that protect the branches of the tree from herbivores.
Argan has very hard wood, whose density is extremely high. Therefore, the tree quickly drowns in water. The bark is thin and easily destroyed. The plant also has healing properties that can cure many diseases.
Azerbaijan and Iran have their own iron tree - Temir-agach. The plant is superior in hardness to iron. It is often used to create live fences, which, growing, become very strong. It is simply impossible to get through the thicket of such plants, since their trunk does not have flexibility.
Persian Parrotia, which is the most durable of iron trees, grows in the North Iranian and Transcaucasian forests. Its wood is used for the manufacture of components for automobiles and art products.
Among the iron - include and Tiss. This plant not only has solid wood, but also virtually no rot. Previously, nails were made from wood; it was used for the construction of underwater and underground structures.
In Brazil, the Amazonian iron tree grows, in tropical Africa - Azobe, there are also rosewood (rosewood), kumaru, ebony.