Styrax
in botany, the storax; the typical genus of Styracaceæ. Elegant trees and shrubs, mostly with stellate hairs, entire leaves, and racemes of white or cream-colored flowers. Found in the warmer parts of America and Asia; one is European and one African.
S. officinale, a tree from 15 to 20 feet high, has ovate leaves, shining above, downy beneath, longer than the racemes, which consist of five or six flowers. It is a native of Syria, Greece, and Italy.
It furnishes storax, which exudes and hardens in the air when the bark is wounded. S. benzoin is the benjamin storax, or gum-benjamin tree. It is found in Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Archipelago generally, and produces benzoin. S. reticulata, S. ferruginea, and S. aurea yield a gum used as incense.
Among other American species are S. grandiflorus, S. laevigatus, and S. pulverulentus, S. serratulum, and S. virgatum, small trees, natives of Bengal, yield gum, but of inferior quality.