STYRAX BENZOIN. BENZOIN STORAX, OR BENJAMIN TREE. 
Class XXIII. POLYGAMIA. Order 
I. MONCECIA. 
Natural Order, COMBRETACEJS. MYROBALAN TRIBE. 
Fig. (a) corolla; (b) anthers; (c) calyx, germen, and style. 
Though Garcias ab Horto, Grimm, and Silvius, were acquainted with the real tree from which the 
resinous substance called Benzoin is collected, its botanical characters were entirely unknown to modern 
authors till about the year 1787, when Dryander fully ascertained it to be a Styrax. This was done at the 
request of the late Sir Joseph Banks, who obtained proper specimens of the tree from Mr. Marsden at 
Sumatra, where it is a native. Ray had erroneously supposed it to be the production of a North American 
shrub, thence called by Linnaeus, Laurus Benzoin. The latter, in correcting this error fell into a no less 
mistake, making the Benjamin-tree a Croton in Mant. 2,294 and a Terminalia in the supplement 434. To 
this he is supposed to have been led by the French name of this Croton or Terminalia ( Bien-joint ,) but he gives 
a better reason in justification of himself in the Supplementum, where he informs us that a piece of the true 
Benzoe, brought by Thunberg, very closely agreed, in its singular bark, with the tree before him, which 
grew in the stove at Upsal. 
The Benzoin Styrax is of quick growth, and rises to a considerable height ; it sends off many strong, 
round branches, which are covered with a fine downy and hoary bark. The leaves are about four inches 
long and two broad, alternate, on short footstalks, quite entire, pointed, oblong, elegantly reticulated with 
triply compound prominent veins, smooth on the upper surface, and clothed beneath with a fine dense hoary 
down. The flowers are in compound axillary clusters, seldom so long as the leaves, alternately branched, 
with angular downy stalks, and a few small, oblong, concave, more downy, deciduous bracteas. The 
flowers are from six to twelve in one cluster, smaller than those of Styrax officinale, and usually hang all 
upon the same side. The calyx is bell-shaped, downy, with very minute teeth ; the corolla consists of five 
linear obtuse petals, four times longer than the calyx, connected together at the base, externally cineritious, 
and somewhat silky rather than downy. The filaments are ten, shorter than the petals, inserted into the 
receptacle, connected at the base into a tube almost as long as the calyx, and crowned with linear erect 
anthers. The germen is superior, ovate, and tomentose, with a slender style, and simple stigma. The fruit 
is similar to that of Styrax officinale. 
In some of the northern parts of Sumatra, particularly near the sea-coast, there are several extensive 
plantations of these trees. The fruit being sown in the rice fields, springs up, and the young plants require 
only that the surrounding shrubs should be cleared away from them. When the trees have attained the age 
of six or seven years, incisions are made in the bark, from which the balsam exudes in the form of a thick, 
whitish, resinous juice. By exposure to the air, this juice soon hardens; it is then pared from the bark 
with a knife or chisel. For the first three years the trees yield the purest resin: this is of a white colour, 
inclining to yellow, soft and fragrant. Afterwards, for the next seven or eight years, an inferior sort is 
yielded; this is of a reddish yellow colour, degenerating to brown. At length the trees, unable to bear a 
repetition of the process, are cut down, and split into pieces. From these is procured, by scraping, a still 
worse sort of benzoin, which is dark-coloured, hard, and mixed more or less with the parings of the wood 
and other impurities. 
The inferior sorts of benzoin are exported to Arabia, Persia and some parts of India, where they 
are burned, to perfume, with their smoke, the temples and houses of the inhabitants; to expel troublesome 
insects, and obviate the pernicious effects of unwholesome air or noxious exhalations. 
Benzoin is brought for sale to the mercantile parts of Sumatra, in large cakes, covered with mats. In 
order to pack it in chests, it is necessary to break these cakes, and to expose the benzoin to the heat of the 
sun. The greater part which is brought to England is re-exported to countries where the Roman Catholic 
and Mahomedan religions prevail; to be there burned in the churches and temples. The exportation of 
benzoin from London to Magadore only has been estimated at 30,000 pounds weight per annum. 
Chemical Properties. — Only three solid balsams are at present known; viz . Stor ax, Dragon’s 
blood, and Benzoin. Benzoin has a very agreeable odour, which is increased by heat. It has little taste. 
Its specified gravity is 1,092. This substance has been used in medicine for ages, and various processes have 
been pointed out by chemists for extracting benzoic acid from it; but the only person who has examined 
its properties in detail is Mr. Brande. 
