| Opopanax | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opopanax chironium | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Apiaceae |
| Subfamily: | Apioideae |
| Genus: | Opopanax W.D.J.Koch [1] |
| Species | |
See text | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Opopanax is a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae.
Opopanax includes four species: [1]
The genus name Opopanax derives from Anglo-Norman opopanac, from Latin opopanax, from Hellenistic Greek ὀποπάναξ, from Ancient Greek ὀπός (opos, "juice") + πάναξ (panax, "all-healing"). [2] Therefore, opopanax literally means the juice (gum resin) of all-heal. There were many different plants called all-heal (πάνακες or panaces ) in Ancient Greece and Rome. However, according to Dioscorides, opopanax was obtained specifically from a kind of all-heal named πάνακες Ἡράκλειον (panaces Heraclion, "Hercules' all-heal"), which has been identified as Opopanax chironium , [3] [4] [5] O. persicus [5] and O. hispidus . [6]
The term opopanax traditionally refers to the medicinal gum resin of Opopanax sp., but in perfumery, opopanax refers to the gum resin of an unrelated species Commiphora guidottii . [5]
The genus was created by Wilhelm Daniel Joseph Koch based on the species Opopanax chironium , previously known as Pastinaca opopanax L. and Ferula opopanax Spreng. [7]
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