Opopanax (genus)
Opopanax is a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae.
Species
Opopanax includes four species:Etymology
The genus name Opopanax derives from Anglo-Norman opopanac, from Latin opopanax, from Hellenistic Greek ὀποπάναξ, from Ancient Greek ὀπός + πάναξ. Therefore, opopanax literally means the juice of all-heal. There were many different plants called all-heal in Ancient Greece and Rome. However, according to Dioscorides, opopanax was obtained specifically from a kind of all-heal named πάνακες Ἡράκλειον, which has been identified as Opopanax chironium, O. persicus and O. hispidus.The term opopanax traditionally refers to the medicinal gum resin of Opopanax sp., but in perfumery, opopanax refers to the gum resin of an unrelated species Commiphora guidottii.