Guaiacum uses, including as lumber, for medicinal purposes, and as ornamentals. The trade of all species of "Guaiacum" is controlled under CITES Appendix II. "Guaiacum officinale" is the national flower of Jamaica, while "Guaiacum sanctum" is the national tree of the Bahamas. The genus is famous as the supplier of lignum vitae, which is the heartwood of several species in the genus. It is the fourth-hardest variety of wood as measured by the Janka hardness test, requiring a force of to embed a steel ball in diameter half that distance into the wood. The Spanish encountered guaiacum wood when they conquered
Walter Janka 1932 he undertook a type setting apprenticeship. In 1930 Walter Janka became an Organisation Leader, and then a Political leader of the Young Communists (KJVD / "Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands") for the Chemnitz sub-region. After his elder brother, , had been murdered by the Nazis, Walter himself was imprisoned by the Gestapo. He was remanded in custody in Chemnitz and in Freiburg before being convicted of preparing to commit high treason. After 1 years of imprisonment in Bautzen prison, he spent a six-month term in Sachsenburg concentration camp. Finally, in 1935 he was deported to Czechoslovakia. In 1936 Janka went to