What is aloeswood?
Agarwood is a resinous wood that sometimes occurs in trees belonging to the Aquilaria genus, Thymelaeceae family. Aquilaria is a fast-growing, archaic tropical forest tree, which occurs in South and Southeast Asia, from the foothills of the Himalayas to the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. The tree grows in natural forests at an altitude of a few meters above sea level to about 1000 meters, and it grows best around 500 meters. It can grow on a wide range of soils, including poor sandy soil. Seedlings need a lot of shade and water. Trees grow very fast, and start producing flowers and seeds as early as four years old. At least fifteen species of Aquilaria trees are known to produce the much sought-after Agarwood. In South Asia Aquilaria achalloga is found, particularly in India, Aquilaria malaccensis is mostly known from Malaysia and Indonesia, and Aquilaria crassna principally grows in Indochina. A number of other species are known such as Aquilaria grandfolia, Aquilaria chinesis etc.

Also known as aloeswood, heartwood, or eaglewood, agarwood resembles amber resin. It is sticky and malleable, but not naturally produced by trees like most kinds of sap. It only forms within a small percentage of trees from the Aquilaria family, called thymelaeceae, that used to grow across the temperate and rainforests in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam. These tropical trees actually grow very quickly in poor soil, so long as they have enough water.

Unfortunately, the trees aren't valued for their prolific lumber, but rather the anomalous substance of agarwood that seems to arise as a result of an infection or genetic mutation. Sadly, one cannot tell which trees might yield a hefty harvest of agarwood until they are felled and split open. Foresight may have allowed them to be monitored as a renewable resource, yet over-harvesting has all but eliminated the Aquilaria trees in most countries. Repopulation at this point is probably not tenable.

Agarwood is a highly prized incense that is extremely rare. It has at least a 3000-year history in the Middle East, China and Japan. There are also references to agarwood in the literature of India and France, and even in the Old Testament of the Bible. Agarwood remains today the world's most expensive incense

Agarwood (Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.) is a kind of oleoresin formed inside in the agarwood tree. Agarwood tree can live more than a thousand year, so some of the highest quality agarwood also has been formed for the same long period of time.
Agarwood is a mystical resin which is used for meditation unlocking the subconscious and balancing the life airs or chi.
Used chiefly for Incense for the Mind - during meditation, Agarwood is highly psychoactive. It is used for spiritual journey, enlightenment, clarity and grounding. Buddhists use it for transmutation of ignorance. Tibetan monks use it to bring energy to the centre and calm the mind and spirit. The Sufis use Agarwood oil in their esoteric ceremonies and Japanese Shamans use it for its psychoactive properties. It enchances mental clarity and opens the third eye as well as all of the upper charkas. It is recommended by experienced practitioners for providing motivation and devotion to meditation. It brings communication with the transcendent, refreshes the mind and body, drives away evil spirits, takes away exhaustion, removes impurities, expels negative energies, brings alertness, relieves anxiety, invokes a sense of strength and peace, creating natural order in your sacred living areas, enhances cerebral functioning, calms the nervous system, remedies nervous disorders such as neurosis, obsessive behaviour, etc., and it is a companion in solitude. In China It is said that prayers arise with the fragrant smoke of Aloeswood incense carrying the prayer to the Creator.

Also known as Agarwood, Lign Aloes, Eagle wood, Jinko or Oud, Aloeswood is one of the most rare and precious woods on the planet, prized for its rich and wonderful fragrance. Aloeswood is extremely rare and often difficult to obtain and its value is pegged at 1.5 times the worth of gold and is sometimes referred to as "liquid gold¨ or "Wood of the gods.¨ Although the southern Arabian Peninsula has been long identified with aromatics, few Westerners are familiar with Aloeswood. This obscurity is partly due to Aloeswood rarity and cost. Aloeswood has also been used in nearly every religious tradition around the world and revered for thousands of years by many cultures as the most treasured incense ingredient. It was Aloeswood and Myrrh that was burned at Jesus' burial ceremony. Ayurvedic, Unanai, Tibetan and Chinese physicians have all used Aloeswood in their practice to treat various diseases as well as mental illness.

The tree that is used in the present invention is less than 100 years old, preferably is about 2-80 years old, more preferably 3-20 years old, or even only about 3-12 years old. The tree used in the present invention is not growing naturally in an old growth forest. An "old growth forest" is defined herein as a forest that is ecologically mature and has been subjected to negligible unnatural disturbance such as logging, roading and clearing. Also included in this definition are ecologically mature forests where the effects of disturbance are now negligible. In such old growth forests, the upper stratum or overstory is in the late mature to over-mature growth phases. Species of trees that can be used in the present invention include, for example, Aquilaria malaccensis, A. agallocha, A. baillonii, A. crassna, A. hirta, A. rostrata, A. beccariana, A. cummingiana, A. filaria, A. khasiana, A. microcarpa, A. grandiflora, A. chinesis or A. sinensis, A. borneensis, and A. bancana, or Gonystylus bancanus.

The source of agarwood is the Aquilaria tree. The Aquilaria tree is an evergreen that grows up to 40 meters high and 60 centimeters in diameter. It bears white flowers that are sweetly scented. The genus Aquilaria is an angiosperm taxonomically placed in the Thymelaceaceae family. Fifteen species of Aquilaria have been reported and all produce agarwood. The taxonomy of these species is not completely clear and not all species are recognized by taxonomists. Species include Aquilaria malaccensis, A. agallocha, A. baillonii, A. crassna, A. hirta, A. rostrata, A. beccariana, A. cummingiana, A. filaria, A. khasiana, A. microcarpa, A. grandiflora, A. chinesis or A. sinensis, A. borneensis, and A. bancana. Aquilaria bancana has been questioned as a true species of Aquilaria and has been placed in the Gonystylaceae family of the Gonystylus genus, as Gonystylus bancanus. Gonystylus has also been found to produce an aromatic resin that is considered the same as or very similar to agarwood.

Aquilaria trees are native to Asia from Northern India to Vietnam and Indonesia. The healthy wood of the Aquilaria tree is white, soft, even-grained, and not scented when freshly cut. Under certain pathological conditions, the heartwood becomes saturated with resin, and eventually becomes hard to very hard. The best grade of agarwood is hard, nearly black and sinks when placed in water. In general, agarwood is considered inferior as it appears lighter in tone, with diminishing amounts of resin.

The process of agar deposits is not fully understood. A Dutch paper from 1933 (J. P. Schuitemaker, "Het garoehout van West Boreno" Boschbouwkundig Tijdschrift Tectona Uitgave der Vereeniging van Hoogere Ambtenaren bij het Boschwezen in Nederlands Oost-Indi 26:851-892) reported the occurrence of agarwood in Borneo and discussed many different types of resin produced in trees. Most of the local people at the time believed that agarwood formed from mysterious ways and was associated with the spirit world. The author stated that "the mysterious occurrence of the `holy` wood is connected to supernatural powers" and that agarwood was referred to as "wood of the gods." The author also noted that "we cannot exclude the possibility of a pathological occurrence of which the cause was unknown," that "perfect trees never have agarwood," and that agarwood "is formed around wounded or rotting parts of the trunk." The author also suggested that salt put into holes in trees might promote resin. The paper also stated that if the agarwood was infectious, maybe it would be possible to induce agarwood formation by infecting the trunk artificially by putting fresh cut agarwood into the stem.

Gaharu, Eaglewood, Aloeswood, Agarwood... It's All The Same