Bursera graveolens

Bursera graveolens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Burseraceae
Genus: Bursera
Species:
B. graveolens
Binomial name
Bursera graveolens
Synonyms
List
  • Elaphrium graveolens Kunth 1824
  • Amyris caranifera Willd. ex Engl.
  • Amyris graveolens Spreng.
  • Bursera anderssonii B.L.Rob.
  • Bursera graveolens var. pilosa Engl.
  • Bursera graveolens var. pubescens Engl.
  • Bursera graveolens var. villosula Cuatrec.
  • Bursera pilosa (Engl.) L.Riley
  • Bursera tatamaco (Tul.) Triana & Planch.
  • Elaphrium pilosum (Engl.) Rose
  • Elaphrium tatamaco Tul.
  • Spondias edmonstonei Hook.f.
  • Terebinthus graveolens (Kunth) Rose
  • Terebinthus pilosa (Engl.) Rose
  • Bursera malacophylla B.L.Rob.

Bursera graveolens, known in Spanish as palo santo ('sacred wood'), is a wild tree native to the Yucatán Peninsula and also found in Peru and Venezuela.

Bursera graveolens is found in the seasonally dry tropical forests of Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and on the Galápagos Islands. The tree belongs to the same family (Burseraceae) as frankincense and myrrh. It is widely used in ritual purification and as folk medicine for stomach aches, as a sudorific, and as liniment for rheumatism. Aged heartwood is rich in terpenes such as limonene and α-terpineol.