Agar Wood, Agarwood
Aquilaria crassna

Family: Thymelaeaceae

What it is like

Agar wood or Aquilaria crassna is a 15-20 m tall evergreen tree with an open crown. It is commonly cultivated or harvested from the wild in Southeast Asia for its aromatic resin. Burning agar wood produces fragrance that has been used as incense for ceremonial purposes in Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. The incense also functions as an insect repellent. Agar wood is a source of rare and expensive oil that is used in luxury perfumery and only produced on request. The bark produces fibre that is used for making hammock, clothing articles and paper pulp. The wood is used in furniture making, posts, fuel, and charcoal among others. Agar wood is also used medicinally. It is used as relief from spasms, for lowering fever, against asthma, colic and diarrhoea, and as an aphrodisiac and carminative. The incense is used against cancer and for treating a wide range of mental illnesses, and nervous disorders. The wood can be grated, prepared in many ways, and used during and after childbirth, and for treating abdominal pains, rheumatism, and small pox. Wood decoctions are reported to have anti-microbial properties. In Malaysia, the resin from Agar wood is used to flavour curries. The plant can be grown from its seed. However, the seed has a very short viability thus sowing has to be done as soon as possible after harvesting, with no pre-treatment required.

Aquilaria crassna is an evergreen Tree growing to 20 m (65ft) by 15 m (49ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 20

Where it is found

Scattered in primary and secondary forests on rocky, shallow ferralitic soil, often along the sides of streams, at elevations up to 1,000 metres.

Southeast Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam.

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

Countries/locations it is found in

Coming Soon

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 3

The root has medicinal uses. Agarwood, or the resin contained in it, is stomachic and tranquillizing . It is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat a wide range of mental illnesses, it is a remedy for nervous disorders such as neurosis, obsessive behaviour and exhaustion and is believed to drive evil spirits away. It is also used to treat asthma, chest congestion, colic, diarrhoea, diuretic, kidney problems, nausea, thyroid cancer, and lung tumours. The wood of this species is one of the three ingredients of a popular Thai rejuvenation and blood tonic known as 'TriSuraPhon'. The other two ingredients are the wood of Cimmamomum parthenoxylon and the bark of Cinnamomum bejolghota. The tonic is said to have a wide range of beneficial effects upon the general health, the individual components having been credited with diverse beneficial properties including antioxidant, anti-ischemic, antimicrobial, anticancer, hypoglycaemic, and hypolipidemic. Trials have shown that this tonic can help to normalize lipid levels in overweight individuals, also reducing highly atherogenic LDLC levels and increasing beneficial HDL-C levels.

Antiasthmatic: Treats asthma.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Cancer: Used in the treatment of cancer.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Hypoglycaemic: Reduces the levels of sugar in the blood.

Kidney: Used in the treatment of kidney diseases

Stomachic: Aids and improves the action of the stomach.

Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.

Other

Rating: 4

Other uses rating: High (4/5). Agroforestry Uses: Initial trial results in Cambodia have shown that the tree is easy to plant and very suitable for planting under the canopies of mixed stands. Other Uses Agarwood is the rare and famous, resin-containing heartwood that is produced mainly from old and diseased trees of several members of this genus. In trade, a distinction between the wood and these species is rarely made. The fragrance produced by the burning agarwood has been highly valued for thousands of years, and its use as incense for ceremonial purposes in Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism is widespread throughout eastern and southern Asia. In Thailand, it is put into funeral pyres, while in Japan, the incense is used in tea ceremonies. Wood only partly saturated with resin but still fragrant, and occasionally also the wood remaining after distillation, is made into sticks called 'joss-sticks' or 'agarbattis' which are burnt as an incense. The incense is also used as an insect repellent. Agar-wood oil is an essential oil obtained by water and steam distillation of agarwood. It is used in luxury perfumery for application in e.g. oriental and woody-aldehydic bases, 'chypres' and 'fougères'. It produces interesting odour notes with clove oil, e.g. in carnation bases. The oil is so rare and expensive that it is only produced on request. Agar-wood oil is a yellow to dark amber, viscous liquid with a characteristic balsamic and woody odour. Its aroma has some resemblance with vetiverol or styrax and has a sweetness similar to that of sandalwood oil. Its odour is long-lasting and exhibits a good tenacity in applications. The roots are used for incense and cosmetics. A fibre is obtained from the bark. It is used for hammock making, clothing articles and paper pulp. The wood is soft and very fragrant, consisting of irregular patches of dark wood in which heavily scented oleoresins are concentrated. Undamaged wood that is only lightly fragrant is used for general furniture, round wood, plywood, posts, stakes, sawn or hewn building timbers, for light construction, carpentry/joinery, containers, crates, musical instruments etc. The wood is sometimes used for fuel and charcoal.

Charcoal: Used for fuel, drawing, deodorant, filter, fertilizer etc.

Containers: Plants, such as gourds, that can be used as containers. Does not include baskets or containers made from wood.

Cosmetic: Used to improve the physical appearence of a person.

Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Incense: Aromatic plants that can be burnt to impart a pleasant smell, repel insects and disinfect closed areas.

Paper: Related to the entry for Fibre, these plants have been specifically mentioned for paper making.

Repellent: Plants that are said to deter but not necessarily kill various mammals, birds, insects etc.

Resin: Used in perfumery, medicines, paints, soap making etc. This also includes turpentine, which is extracted from many resins and used as a preservative, water proofer etc,

Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent

How it is grown

A plant of the moist tropics, where it is found mainly at elevations from 300 - 900 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime annual temperatures are in the range 22° - 28°c, though it can tolerate 14° - 40°c. The absolute minimum temperature it experiences is 5c. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall ranges from 1,500 - 6,500mm, with a dry season ranging from 0 - 4 months. Requires a sunny position according to some reports, whilst others say that it can tolerate some shade. Young plants grow well in some shade, but require more light as they grow larger. Trees have to be at least 15 - 20 years old before they produce deposits of the aromatic resin known as agar wood or eagle wood. Three closely related species of Aquilaria are considered to be the major sources of agar wood and are distinguished by the length of their calyx lobes: Aquilaria crassna, which comes from Indo-China, has lobes 12 - 15mm long. Aquilaria malaccensis, from India, and Malaysia has lobes 2 - 3mm long. Aquilaria sinensis, from China, has lobes 8mm long.

Propagating it: Seed - it has a very short viability of less than 10 weeks and needs to be sown as soon as possible after harvesting. No pre-treatment is required. Sow in a nursery seedbed, only just covering the seed and leaving the tail above soil level. Germination usually starts within 10 days and can be spread over one month. Root cuttings are easy if rooting hormones are used. Air layering works well if rooting hormones are used.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Agar wood or Aquilaria crassna

Synonyms

Aquilaria crasna Pierre