The Storax Tree.
Styrax arbor.
A small tree, native of the East, and some parts of Europe; but in Europe it yields none of the resin we call storax. We have it in some gardens. It is twenty feet high; the trunk is covered with a brown bark: that on the branches is greyish; the leaves are of a brownish or a dusky green on the upper side, and whitish underneath: the flowers are white and large; the fruit is like a nut, roundish and little, and is covered with a woolly coat; three of the flowers grow together usually, and are succeeded by three of these.
We use no part of the tree, but a resinous substance, which is produced from it. This is kept at the druggists, and is reddish and of a fragrant smell but very foul. It is good in all diseases of the breast and lungs, being an excellent balsam. It is also good in all nervous and hysteric complaints, and it promotes the menses.
