The objective was to characterize the wood product commercially known as pau-de-escora in Manaus, Amazonas. Pau-de-escora is a key foundation material to build concrete lining or storey in tower buildings. The use of pau-de-escora is very popular in Manaus even in public building construction. To carry out the analyses and the anatomical identification of the material, we used 450 pau-de-escora poles, which were apprehended by the Environmental Battalion of Amazonas Police Force. It was also carried out a social survey to better understand the dynamics of the trade of this product in Manaus. The length of the 450 poles averaged 3.74 ± 0.08 m (CI 95%) and diameter at the base averaged 4.48 ± 0.03 cm (CI 95%). These small differences related to the means indicate that the market requires a very clear dimension pattern for this wood product. The seven most abundant families encountered were: Fabaceae, Annonaceae, Sapotaceae, Lecythidaceae, Lauraceae, Burseraceae and Chrysobalanaceae. The selling price of pau-de-escora pole in Manaus averaged R$ 2.63, and the buying price averaged R$ 3.94. The custody chain of pau-de-escora is completely illegal not only in Brazil, perhaps worldwide because it is part of the natural regeneration ofprimary or recovery forests.
Concrete lining; wood identification anatomy; commercial activity
