Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.
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| Family: | THYMELEACEAE |
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| Sub-Family: | Not available | ||||
| English Name: | Agar Wood | ||||
| Synonym: | Aquilaria agallocha Roxb | ||||
| Common Name: | Outh, Aloe wood, Eagle wood | ||||
| Flowering & Fruiting Period: | April-September | ||||
| Distribution: | South East Asia | ||||
| Habitat: | Cultivated | ||||
| Uses: | The resin is used to flavour curries in Malaysia. Agar wood is an astringent, stimulant, tonic herb that relieves spasms, especially of the digestive and respiratory systems, and lowers fevers. In Western, Chinese and Indian medicines the incense is used against cancer, especially of the thyroid gland. In China it is applied as a sedative against abdominal complaints, asthma, colic and diarrhoea, and as an aphrodisiac and carminative. The fragrance produced by the burning agar wood has been highly valued for thousands of years, and its use as incense for ceremonial purposes in Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. Wood only partly saturated with resin but still fragrant, and occasionally also the wood remaining after distillation, is made into sticks called 'joss-sticks' or 'agarbattis' which are burnt as incense. Agar-wood oil is an essential oil obtained by water and steam distillation of agar wood. It is used in luxury perfumery for application. | ||||
| Key Characteristics: | Evergreen trees. Leaves alternate, simple, penni-veined with wavy horizontal tertiary venation, glabrous; stipules absent. Flowers ca. 5 mm diameter in white-yellow with corolla tube and form in panicles. Fruits ca. 19 mm long, greenish, dehiscent capsule. | ||||