A very surprising thing learned today about a somewhat common wood

[1-Old-Man]

There is a hardwood that comes from central and south America that is commonly used in outdoor applications. The wood comes from the Ipe tree though it goes by a number of names, frequently "Brazilian Walnut" and similar names. You see the wood used for decks and other applications where a very durable and more or less water proof wood is needed, which this stuff is well suited to but not where the wood is finished because it is very hard on machine tools; it has a high silica content and silica is very hard and wears out steel.

Among its other characteristics is its toxicity. Its dust, like so many other woods, is carcinogenic but better known of its effects is that if you get a splinter of it the wound will fester badly. Now here is the thing. A local woodworking shop has a stockpile of this stuff and now and then they get an order to make something out of it. All of the guys in the shop have worked with it and one of the guys is the son of a friend of ours. It turns out the boy (in his 20's) was sitting around at lunch with the guys and mentioned that he had got a couple of splinters from the wood and that they had become infected - nothing new there. But then he said something else, that when he got the splinters that night he had extremely vivid (and as he later told me dam near an hallucinogenic) dreams. Every person around the table agreed, the same thing had happened to them. They got the splinter(s) and then that night came the dreams.

I just thought this would be of interest to someone. I searched to see if this effect had been discussed elsewhere but came up empty handed. It seemed awfully interesting to me.

[hedgehog]

1. I have no comment on this wood, but you do make me recall my husband's

visit to a lumber yard in Brazil - chockful of tropical woods (naturally!) for everyday use. He didn't know whether to cry or drool!

[bluesbassman]

2. Geez don't spread that around! The DOJ'll classify it as a schedule A drug!

Interesting story, hadn't heard that before. I've got a buddy who ran a lumber yard for years, I'll ask him if he ever ran into that.

[1-Old-Man]

4. It would be interesting to ask. What got me was that no one had particularly noticed it before

Apparently it wasn't until the young guy mentioned it that they all realized that it had happened to each of them. I knew what he meant by vivid dreams. Back when I was in the Army I contracted Malaria and as the fever increased my dreams became more and more strange. I remember the last one before they hauled me to the Medics, it is as vivid, clear, and strange in my memory today as it was that day.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. We were sitting around a campfire in the Army in Germany one night and someone "admitted"...

.
.
.
... that he had frequent and vivid dreams about fast food. German women were raised
with healthy attitudes towards sex and were pretty enthusiastic about it, so sexually
erotic dreams were neither as frequent nor as necessary as here in the States. But at
the time in Germany, there was no fast food.
.
One-by-one, we all admitted to fast food dreams We had all been a little disturbed
and embarrassed by them and it wasn't until one man had "come out of the closet"
with his that we realized they were a common occurrence for almost all of us.
.
.
.

[In_The_Wind]

3. Thanks for the PSA. I'll be careful if I ever handle Brazilian Walnut.

We're going to need a bit of woodwork out back.

[BlueJazz]

5. Jessee...get your ass down here. We need to cook up some wood.

[Major Nikon]

7. Beats licking frogs

I did find some reference for this. Evidently some plants from the family, Bignoniaceae(the tree you described is a member), have properties similar to what you described.

Tanaecium nocturnum:

Family: Bignoniaceae

Genus: Tanaecium

Species: Nocturnum

TRADITIONAL EFFECTS: At lower doses the snuff has been reported to produce a mild drowsiness that overtakes the user. The mind easily wanders and deep introspection becomes difficult. At higher doses, the shamans claim that Koribo allows them to enter into the animal spirit world and communicate with beasts. The snuff also has a somnambulant effect, creating vivid dream states, sleep walking, semi-hypnogogic (half awake/half asleep) trances, and it may send the user into a mild hallucinatory dream world. Other reported effects include dizziness, headaches, and a desire to throw oneself into the nearest body of water (Voogelbreinder 2009, 325).

http://entheology.com/plants/tanaecium-nocturnum/

[jakeXT]

8. I couldn't find anything, and they changed the scientific name I believe

Ipê (Tabebuia spp.)

..

Several species of Tabebuia are also known for Pau D’Arco, a special herb extracted from their leaves and bark. For centuries, the extract has been sold as a tea and used by indigenous communities to treat a range of ailments. While few scientific studies have been conducted, Pau D’Arco is believed to treat illnesses such as leukemia, allergies, diabetes, dysentery and malaria.

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/ipe

Scientists have identified two active chemicals in pau d'arco. These chemicals are called naphthoquinones: lapachol and beta-lapachone. In lab tests, these chemicals kill some bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. They also have anti-inflammatory properties. But no one knows whether they will have the same effects when humans take them, and the usual dose required would have severe, toxic side effects.

Source: Pau d'arco | University of Maryland Medical Center http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/pau-darco

In 2007, this large genus native to Central and South America was revised and on the basis of DNA, morphological and anatomical evidence subdivided into several genera.
http://www-public.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/plants_u/JCUDEV_006214