Lancewood is a tough, elastic and heavy wood obtained from the West Indies and Guiana

Guiana

The Guiana Shield is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a 1.7 billion year old Precambrian geological formation in northeast South America that forms a portion of the northern coast. The higher elevations on the shield are called the Guiana Highlands, which is where the...

. It was often used especially for carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

 shafts.

It is brought into commerce in the form of taper poles of about 6 metres in length and from 15 to 20 cm in diameter at the thickest end. The wood is obtained from species of the family Annonaceae

Annonaceae

Annonaceae, also called the custard apple familyis a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs or rarely lianas.With about 2300 to 2500 species and more than 130 genera,...

. The black lancewood or carisiri of Guiana is of remarkably slender form. The Yellow lancewood tree is found in tolerable abundance throughout Guiana, and used by the Indians for arrow-points, as well as for spars, beams, etc.
Some Bowyers use this wood for making longbows but use the term 'lemonwood' or 'degame' to describe the wood the bow is made from.