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Indonesia: Styrax Benzoin or 'Gum Benjamin', the resin of which is used in making some varieties of incense. Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, 1897

Indonesia: Styrax Benzoin or 'Gum Benjamin', the resin of which is used in making some varieties of incense. Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, 1897

Styrax benzoin is a species of tree native to Sumatra in Indonesia. Common names for the tree include gum benjamin tree, loban (in Arabic), kemenyan (in Indonesia and Malaysia), onycha, and Sumatra benzoin tree.

Benzoin resin, a dried exudation from pierced bark, is currently produced from various Styrax species native to Sumatra, Java, and Thailand. Commonly traded are the resins of S. tonkinensis (Siam benzoin), S. benzoin (Sumatra benzoin), and S. benzoides. The name 'benzoin' is probably derived from Arabic lubān jāwī (لبان جاوي, 'Javan frankincense'); compare the obsolete terms 'gum benjamin' and 'benjoin'. This incidentally shows that the Arabs were aware of the origin of these resins, and that by the late Middle Ages at latest international trade in them was probably of major importance.

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