storax
storax — noun
1. A thick, sweet-smelling balsam taken from bark of Liquidambar orientalis, an Asi
A thick, sweet-smelling balsam taken from bark of Liquidambar orientalis, an Asian tree; used in cough medicines and perfume-making.
Ancient Egyptian temples kept jars of storax for their most important ceremonies.
historical context: storax in religious ceremonies
The old apothecary sold storax as a remedy for stubborn winter coughs.
Dahlia, a perfumer in Grasse, prized storax for the warm, deep note it added to her winter fragrances.
Silk Road traders carried dried blocks of storax from Anatolia all the way to the perfume markets of Chang'an.
Cyrus dabbed a drop of pure storax balsam onto the cotton cloth before inhaling deeply.
- liquid storax
an older name, emphasising its semi-liquid form
- Levant storax
historical trade name, referring to its Eastern Mediterranean origin
用法筆記
Also called 'liquid storax' or 'Levant storax' in older texts. The balsam is tapped directly from the tree trunk rather than distilled from leaves or twigs.
常見錯誤
2. A balsam collected from sweet gum trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) of North Ameri
A balsam collected from sweet gum trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) of North America, with qualities much like those of the Asian storax.
Colonial farmers in Virginia learned to tap sweet gum trees for their storax.
collocation: tap [tree] for storax
Lauren held the brown bottle of American storax to her nose and breathed in deeply.
sensory context: smelling American storax from a bottle
Wei scraped a bead of storax from the trunk of a sweet gum tree near the Altamaha River.
The herbalist poured thick American storax from the clay jar into a small glass bottle.
The Cherokee healer mixed storax from sweet gum bark with bear fat to make a salve for deep wounds.
- American storax
common name emphasising its North American origin
- sweet gum balsam
descriptive name referring to the source tree
用法筆記
Sometimes called 'American storax' to distinguish it from the Asian variety (sense 1). It comes from a different tree species but is used in similar ways — mainly in perfumery and traditional medicine.
3. Any tree or shrub of the genus Styrax, typically having leaves covered in fine h
Any tree or shrub of the genus Styrax, typically having leaves covered in fine hairs and hanging clusters of white flowers.
The old storax tree in the botanical garden flowered heavily this spring.
Several species of storax grow wild on the mountain slopes of southern Japan.
The hairy leaves of the storax shrub give the whole plant a soft, silvery look.
Bees crowded around the drooping white flowers of the storax on that warm afternoon.
The nursery workers planted young storax shrubs beside the stone wall, hoping for white flowers next spring.
用法筆記
The plant genus Styrax includes over 100 species. Despite the shared name, the commercial balsam called storax (senses 1 and 2) comes mainly from Liquidambar trees, not from Styrax plants.