Which is the main characteristic of the quebracho tree?

Quebracho trees grow widely dispersed in South America. The Quebracho species range from one end of South America to its other end. The only other Quebracho species outside of South America can be found in Jamaica. Due to their hard nature, these trees derived their name from the Spanish phrase meaning "axe breaker".

'Quebrachales' consists of vast, low hardwood forests where various species of quebracho tree are dominant and economically important as sources of tannin and lumber. Its main use is the extraction of quebracho extract, which is 63% pure tannin (water-soluble astringent polyphenoles) Its tannin extracts has many uses such as leather tanning, waterproofing shoes, eco-friendly paints, thermal insulation foams, and Safer glues for plywood.

It is known commercially as the tree with the hardest hardwood in the world.

The red quebracho (Schinopsis balansae) remains the target of logging today and trees that have been growing for a hundred years are sawed through and pushed over in the blink of an eye. The other species are being cut also, mainly to clear land for agricultural purposes.

More than 2.9 million hectares (7.2 million acres) of its native forest was deforested between 2010 and 2018, according to Guyra Paraguay. The monitoring organization found that 34,000 hectares (83,915 acres) were cleared in June 2018 alone.