| Styrax officinalis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| S. officinalis in the Menashe hills of Israel | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Styracaceae |
| Genus: | Styrax |
| Species: | S. officinalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Styrax officinalis | |
| Synonyms [1] [2] | |
Styrax officinalis is a species of shrub in the family Styracaceae, commonly called the storax tree, [3] or Snowdrop bush. [1]
Styrax officinalis is a deciduous shrub reaching a height of 2–5 metres (6 ft 7 in – 16 ft 5 in). [3] It has a simple, relaxed form, with very thin elliptical leaves 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 3.5–5.5 cm (1+1⁄2–2 in) wide, alternate and widely spaced on thin, reddish stems, with a tight, dark bark on basal stems. A small very light green, stalked axillary bud is associated with each leaf.
The inflorescence is short and few-flowered. The flowers are axillary, bell-shaped, white and fragrant, about 2 cm (1 in) long. The corolla has 5–7 petals and many yellow anthers, the calyx is 5-lobed. Flowering period extends from spring to summer (May–June). [4]
Styrax officinalis subsp. redidivus, Styrax officinalis subsp. fulvescens (both native to California) and Styrax officinalis subsp. jaliscana (native to Mexico), were included here, but recent molecular analysis has suggested that they may be diverged to the point of being separate species. [5]
This species is native to southern Europe and the Middle East. [3] [5] It prefers dry rocky slopes, woods and thickets at an elevation up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above sea level. [3]
This plant is the "official" source of styrax (storax), a herbal medicine known from ancient times; it was identified as such by Linnaeus. Some believe its oleoresin to have been the stacte used together with frankincense, galbanum, and onycha to make Ketoret, the Tabernacle incense of the Old Testament. [6] Averroës referred to the reddish-brown oleoresin or exudate taken from the Storax tree (Styrax officinalis, syn. Liquidambar styraciflua). Ibn Ǧanāḥ (c. 990–c. 1050), speaking of the biblical incense galbanum, wrote in his Sefer Ha-Shorashim, s.v. ח-ל-ב (end): "And then there is ḥelbanah (galbanum) which is called in Arabic lūbnī," meaning, the resin of the storax tree. Some speculate that the storax of the ancients was probably extracted from a different tree, Liquidambar orientalis which grows wild in northern Syria. This may be the biblical balm, though other sources conclude that the biblical balm is balsam (opobalsamum). [7]
A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, and predominantly terpenes. Well known resins include amber, hashish, frankincense, myrrh and the animal-derived resin, shellac. Resins are commonly used in varnishes, adhesives, food additives, incenses and perfumes.
Liquidambar, commonly called sweetgum, gum, redgum, satin-walnut, styrax or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated as a part of the Hamamelidaceae. They are native to southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and North America. They are decorative deciduous trees that are used in the wood industry and for ornamental purposes.
American sweetgum, also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, gumball tree, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Sweetgum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae.
Balsam is the resinous exudate which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam owes its name to the biblical Balm of Gilead.
Onycha, along with equal parts of stacte, galbanum, and frankincense, was one of the components of the consecrated Ketoret (incense) which appears in the Torah book of Exodus (Ex.30:34-36) and was used in Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. This formula was to be incorporated as an incense, and was not to be duplicated for non-sacred use. What the onycha of antiquity actually was cannot be determined with certainty. The original Hebrew word used for this component of the ketoret was שחלת, shecheleth, which means "to roar; as a lion " or “peeling off by concussion of sound." Shecheleth is related to the Syriac shehelta which is translated as “a tear, distillation, or exudation.” In Aramaic, the root SHCHL signifies “retrieve.” When the Torah was translated into Greek the Greek word “onycha” ονυξ, which means "fingernail" or "claw," was substituted for shecheleth.
Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora. It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae. In the past it was often placed in Cornaceae but differs from that in many features.
Styrax is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, mostly native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern and southeastern Asia, but also crossing the equator in South America. The resin obtained from the tree is called benzoin or storax, often used as a vanilla-like component in perfumery.
Pterostyrax, the epaulette tree, is a small genus of four species of deciduous large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, native to eastern Asia in China and Japan. They grow 4–12 m (13–39 ft) tall, with alternate, simple ovate leaves 6–17 cm (2–7 in) long and 4–10 cm (2–4 in) broad. The flowers are white, produced in dense panicles 8–25 cm (3–10 in) long. The fruit is an oblong dry drupe, with longitudinal ribs or narrow wings.
The Styracaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing 12 genera and about 160 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Storax, often commercially sold as styrax, is a natural fragrant resin isolated from the wounded bark of Liquidambar orientalis Mill. and Liquidambar styraciflua L. (Altingiaceae). It is distinct from benzoin, a similar resin obtained from the Styracaceae plant family.
Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala, the Amur maple, often treated as a distinct species Acer ginnala, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject, in parks, or as a street tree.
Liquidambar orientalis, commonly known as oriental sweetgum or Turkish sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar, native to the eastern Mediterranean region, that occurs as pure stands mainly in the floodplains of southwestern Turkey and on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Stacte and nataph are names used for one component of the Solomon's Temple incense, the Ketoret, specified in the Book of Exodus. Variously translated to the Greek term or to an unspecified "gum resin" or similar, it was to be mixed in equal parts with onycha, galbanum and mixed with pure frankincense and they were to "beat some of it very small" for burning on the altar of the tabernacle.
Styrax obassia is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae. It is native to eastern China, Korea, and Japan (Hokkaido).
Styrax grandifolius, the bigleaf snowbell or bigleaf storax, is a plant species native to the southeastern United States, ranging from Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas and Missouri. The plant grows as a deciduous shrub or tree up to 6 metres (20 ft) high, and is most commonly found in upland forests of the southeast's piedmont. As the specific epithet suggests, the species has larger leaves than sympatric Styracaceae, with alternate, obovate leaves up to 14 cm long and 10 cm wide that are densely pubescent underneath. Flowers are borne during early summer in racemes containing up to 20 flowers.
The incense offering, a blend of aromatic substances that exhale perfume during combustion, usually consisting of spices and gums burnt as an act of worship, occupied a prominent position in the sacrificial legislation of the ancient Hebrews.
Bruinsmia styracoides is a large tree of tropical Asia in the family Styracaceae. The specific epithet styracoides refers to the tree's resemblance to Styrax officinalis.
Styrax redivivus, with common names that include snowdrop bush, California styrax, bitternut, drug snowbell, and chaparral snowbell, is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae. It is native to California, a shrub which can grow to 4 metres (13 ft) in height.
Styrax japonicus, also known as the Japanese snowbell, is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae, native to Korea, Japan, and Southern China. Growing to 12 m (39 ft) tall by 8 m (26 ft) broad, it is a graceful, spreading deciduous tree with oval, upward-facing leaves which occasionally turn yellow or orange before falling in autumn. Masses of slightly fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers hang from the branches in summer, followed by fruits (drupes) which resemble olives in both shape and colour.
Acacia rubida, commonly known as red stem wattle, red stemmed wattle or red leaved wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is native to parts of eastern Australia.
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