Opopanax chironium, also known as 'sweet myrrh' or 'bisabol myrrh, ' is a herb that grows one to three feet high and produces a large, yellow flower. The plant thrives in warm climates like Iran, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Somalia, but also grows in cooler climates. Some view opoponax grown in cooler climates as being of inferior quality.
A consumable resin can be extracted from opoponax by cutting the plant at the base of a stem and sun-drying the juice that flows out. Though people often find the taste acrid and bitter, the highly flammable resin
can be burned as incense to produce a scent somewhat like balsam or lavender. The resin has been used in treatment
of spasms and, before that, as an emmenagogue in treatment of asthma, chronic visceral infections, hysteria and
hypochondria. Opoponax resin is most frequently sold in dried irregular pieces, though tear-shaped gems are not uncommon.
Opoponax is also used in the production of certain perfumes, and is the fragrance of one of the popular Diptyque candles.
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