:Introduction
Styrax is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, mostly native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern and southeastern Asia, but also crossing the equator in South America. Common names include styrax, or the more ambiguous storax, snowbell, and benzoin.
: Details
There has been little dedicated research into the medical properties of styrax resin, but it has been used for long, and apparently with favorable results. It was important in Islamic medicine; Avicenna discusses S. officinalis it in his Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb.