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Styrax (common names storax or snowbell) is a genus of about 130 species of large or small in the family Styracaceae, mostly native plant to warm temperateness to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern and southeastern Asia, but also crossing the equator in South America.Fritsch et al. (2001) The resin obtained from the tree is called benzoin or storax (not to be confused with the Liquidambar storax balsam), often used as a vanilla-like component in perfumery.
The genus Pamphilia, sometimes regarded as distinct, is now included within Styrax based on analysis of morphological and DNA sequence data.Wallnöfer (1997), Fritsch et al. (2001) The Lindera benzoin ( Lindera benzoin) is a different plant, in the family Lauraceae.
Styrax trees grow to 2–14 m tall, and have alternate, deciduous or evergreen simple ovate leaf 1–18 cm long and 2–10 cm broad. The are pendulous, with a white 5–10-lobed corolla, produced 3–30 together on open or dense 5–25 cm long. The fruit is an oblong dry drupe, smooth and lacking ribs or narrow wings, unlike the fruit of the related snowdrop trees ( Halesia) and epaulette trees ( Pterostyrax).
The chemical benzoin (2-hydroxy-2-phenylacetophenone), despite the apparent similarity of the name, is not contained in benzoin resin in measurable quantities. However, benzoin resin does contain small amounts of the hydrocarbon styrene, named however for Levant storax (from Liquidambar orientalis), from which it was first isolated, and not for the genus Styrax itself; industrially produced styrene is now used to produce polystyrene , including Styrofoam.
There is some degree of uncertainty as to exactly what resin old sources refer to. Turkish sweetgum ( Liquidambar orientalis) is a quite unrelated tree in the family Altingiaceae that produces a similar resin traded in modern times as storax or as Levant storax, like the resins of other Liquidambar, and a number of confusing variations thereupon. Turkish sweetgum is a relict species that occurs only in a small area in SW Turkey (and not in the Levant at all); presumably, quite some of the "storax resin" of the Ancient Greek and the Ancient Roman sources was from this sweetgum, rather than a Styrax, although at least during the former era genuine Styrax resin, probably from S. officinalis, was imported in quantity from the Near East by merchants, and Herodotus of Halicarnassus in the 5th century BC indicates that different kinds of storax were traded.Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c.440 BC) III.107.2
The nataf (נטף) of the incense sacred to Yahweh, mentioned in the Book of Exodus, is loosely translated by the Greek language term Stacte (στακτή, Amplified Bible: ), or an unspecific "gum resin" or similar term (NIV: ). Nataf may have meant the resin of Styrax officinalis or of some other plant, perhaps Turkish sweetgum, which is unlikely to have been imported in quantity into the Near East.
Since the Middle Ages, Southeast Asian benzoin resins became increasingly available; today there is little international trade in S. officinalis resin and little production of Turkish sweetgum resin due to that species' decline in numbers.
"The gather frankincense by burning that storax which Phoenicians carry to Hellas; they burn this and so get the frankincense; for the spice-bearing trees are guarded by small winged snakes of varied color, many around each tree; these are the snakes that attack Egypt.Although Herodotus saw bones of many of "these ... snakes", their having wings is hearsay information and either incorrect or refers to some kind of agama with neck or body ornaments. See Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c.440 BC) II.75.1-4. Nothing except the smoke of storax will drive them away from the trees."Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c.440 BC) III.107.2:ton men ge libanôton sullegousi tên sturaka thumiôntes, tên es Hellênas Phoinikes exagousi: tautên thumiôntes lambanousi: ta gar dendrea tauta ta libanôtophora ophies hupopteroi, mikroi ta megathea, poikiloi ta eidea, phulassousi plêtheï polloi peri dendron hekaston, houtoi hoi per ep' Aigupton epistrateuontai, oudeni de allôi apelaunontai apo tôn dendreôn ê tês sturakos tôi kapnôi.
Tincture of benzoin is benzoin resin dissolved in ethanol. This and its numerous derived versions like lait virginal and friar's balsam were highly esteemed in 19th-century European cosmetics and other household purposes; they apparently had antibacterial properties. Today tincture of benzoin is most often used in first aid for small injuries, as it acts as a disinfectant and local anesthetic and seems to promote healing. Benzoin resin and its derivatives are also used as additives in cigarettes.
The antibiotic activity of benzoin resin seems mostly due to its abundant benzoic acid and benzoic acid , which were named after the resin; other less well known secondary compounds such as lignans like pinoresinol are likely significant too.Pastrorova et al. (1997)
Some storax species have declined in numbers due to unsustainable logging and habitat degradation. While most of these are classified as vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN, only four trees of the nearly extinct palo de jazmin ( S. portoricensis) are known to survive at a single location. Although legally protected, this species could be wiped out by a single hurricane.
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