Photo: Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Opopanax
Opopanax chironium
Also known as Sweet Myrrh (trade name, often confused with Commiphora resin), Panax Heracleum (old apothecary name), Rough Parsnip Relative
Key benefits
✦Traditional uses
✦Long before it had a Latin name, this plant's amber resin was already famous in the ancient world. Greek and Roman physicians, including Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder, wrote of opopanax gum as a warming remedy for wounds, bruises, and stubborn digestive complaints, and apothecaries kept lumps of it on hand the way a modern medicine cabinet keeps a tin of salve. The species name honors Chiron, the wise centaur of Greek myth who was said to have tutored Achilles and other heroes in the healing arts, a fitting namesake for a plant so bound up with the earliest days of Western herbal medicine. Its resin also traveled the incense and perfume trade routes for centuries, valued for a scent that was smoky, sweet, and a little bit wild.
How to grow & use it
✦The full apothecary for Opopanax
Traditional remedies and step-by-step preparations, a complete growing guide, and how to harvest, dry, and store it, all unlocked with HerbLens Unlimited.
- ✦Remedies & preparations
- ✦ Growing guide
- ✦Harvest & storage
From under $6 a month. Free plant identifications always included.
- ✦Myrrh
- ✦Frankincense
- ✦Benzoin
- ✦Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)
- ✦Benzoin resin
“For the quiet, resinous warmth of a very old apothecary's cabinet.”
The word 'panax,' as in the ginseng genus Panax, comes from the same Greek root as this plant's name, meaning 'all-healing.' Ancient writers actually called this herb Panax heracleum, or 'Hercules' cure-all,' centuries before botanists borrowed that same word for ginseng.
This resin is a known skin and fragrance allergen, so always patch test before topical use and avoid broken skin or the eyes. It is not established as safe to take internally and should be avoided in pregnancy.