Plant Encyclopedia
Styrax benzoin (gum benjamin tree, "Ansokukonoki")
Japanese name: アンソクコウノキ （安息香木）
Scientific name: Styrax benzoin
[Overview]
An evergreen tree growing to 15 m tall. The bark is brown.
The leaves are simple and alternate, ovate to oblong, with fine serrations on the margins.
Many flowers are borne in spike-like inflorescences from the leaf axils; they are reddish white. The corolla is 5-lobed.
The fruit is spherical, 1 cm across, with white hairs on the surface.
[Uses]
The resin obtained by wounding the trunk is used as benzoin in medicine and as a fragrance. Benzoin is also obtained from several other closely related species.
Details
Names
English: gum benjamin tree, Sumatra benzoin tree, loban
Japanese: アンソクコウノキ（安息香木）、ベンゾイン
Japanese: アンソクコウノキ（安息香木）、ベンゾイン
Life form
Tree
Evergreen / deciduous
Evergreen
Leaf type
Broadleaf
Habit
Terrestrial
Distribution or origin
Thailand, Malay, Sumatra
Growth form
Upright
Height
15000 mm
Leaf shape
Simple leaf
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Inflorescence
Spike
Flower color
White
Leaf color
Green
Availability of seeds and plants
High
Form sold
Seedlings
Soil needs
Required
Scent
Resinous
Uses
Medicinal, Essential oil
Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.