# Storax calamite (Styrax officinalis)

**Storace calamita**

**Known today as.** The resin of *Styrax officinalis*, packed in reeds (*calami*) for export.

Kind: Resin & Wood

## What did Canale use it for?

In the fumigation and the oil (chs. 8–9).

## What does modern science say?

Aromatic; extracts of the plant show some antimicrobial activity in the laboratory.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **cinnamic acid**: free and as cinnamyl and phenylpropyl esters
- **styrene**: first isolated from storax in 1839 and named for it
- **storesin**: a triterpene resin
- **vanillin**: 

**Mechanism.** The balsam of the Asian sweetgum: antiseptic and expectorant by the cinnamates, which is why it is in compound benzoin tincture; the storax of the ancients was the *Styrax officinalis* resin, now lost from commerce. Styrene, the monomer of polystyrene, was first distilled from it.

**Dose.** Safe externally; sensitising.

**Standing.** In the BP compound benzoin tincture; a perfumery material.

## What lore surrounds it?

Folkard: “The Styrax, or Storax-tree, has been held in great estimation from the time of Dioscorides and Pliny,” and its gum, “known as Storax-tears, can only be obtained in perfection from Asiatic Turkey.” He quotes Gerarde, “of this gum, there are made sundry excellent perfumes, pomanders, sweet waters, sweet bags, sweet washing-balls, and divers other sweet chains and bracelets,” and adds that “Storax-tears are still used as incense in the churches and mosques of Asia Minor.”

## What did the older authorities say?

**Herodotus.** Tells that the Arabians burned storax to drive off the winged serpents that guarded the frankincense trees.

## Sources

- Folkard, R. (1884). *Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics*, “Storax.” Project Gutenberg #44638.
- Hovaneissian, M., et al. (2008). “Analytical investigation of styrax and benzoin balsams by HPLC-PAD-fluorimetry and GC-MS.” *Phytochemical Analysis* 19.

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*Storax calamite.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/storax-calamite

Historical description, not medical advice.