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Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, most commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from Arabic: عود, romanized: ʿūd, pronounced [ʕuːd]), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small hand carvings. It forms in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees after they become infected with a type of Phaeoacremonium mold, P. parasitica. The tree defensively secretes a resin to combat the fungal infestation. Prior to becoming infected, the heartwood mostly lacks scent, and is relatively light and pale in colouration. However, as the infection advances and the tree produces its fragrant resin as a final option of defense, the heartwood becomes very dense, dark, and saturated with resin. This product is harvested, and most famously referred to in cosmetics under the scent names of oud, oodh or aguru; however, it is also called aloes (not to be confused with the succulent plant genus Aloe), agar (this name, as well, is not to be confused with the edible, algae-derived thickening agent agar agar), as well as gaharu or jinko. With thousands of years of known use, and valued across Muslim, Christian, and Hindu communities (among other religious groups), oud is prized in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures for its distinctive fragrance, utilized in colognes, incense and perfumes. One of the main reasons for the relative rarity and high cost of agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource. Since 1995, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has listed Aquilaria malaccensis (the primary source) in its Appendix II (potentially threatened species). In 2004, all Aquilaria species were listed in Appendix II; however, a number of countries have outstanding reservations regarding that listing. The varying aromatic qualities of agarwood are influenced by the species, geographic location, its branch, trunk and root origin, length of time since infection, and methods of harvesting and processing. Agarwood is one of the most expensive woods in the world, along with African blackwood, sandalwood, pink ivory and ebony. First-grade agarwood is one of the most expensive natural raw materials in the world, with 2010 prices for superior pure material as high as US$100,000/kg, although in practice adulteration of the wood and oil is common, allowing for prices as low as US$100/kg. A wide range of qualities and products come to market, varying in quality with geographical location, botanical species, the age of the specific tree, cultural deposition and the section of the tree where the piece of agarwood stems from. As of 2013 the global market for agarwood had an estimated value of US$6 to 8 billion and was growing rapidly. Denomination Etymology The word ultimately comes from one of the Dravidian languages, probably from Tamil அகில் (agil). Vernacular names Agarwood is known under many names in different cultures: Another name is Lignum aloes or Aloeswood, unrelated to the familiar genus, Aloe. Also from aghil, via Hebrew and Greek. In Assamese it is called xasi (সাঁচি). In Bengali, agarwood is known as agor gach (আগর গাছ) and the agarwood oil as agor ator (আগর আতর). In Odia, it is called agara (ଅଗର). In Cambodia, it is called chann crassna. The fragrance from this wood is called khloem chann (ខ្លឹមចាន់) or khloem chann crassna. khloem is 'hard wood' and chann crassna is the tree species Aquilaria crassna in the Khmer language. In Hindi, it is known as agar, which is derived originally from the Sanskrit aguru. In Sinhala Agarwood producing Gyrinops walla tree is known as "Walla Patta" (වල්ල පට්ට). In Tamil it is called aghi (அகில்) though what was referred in ancient Tamil literature could well be Excoecaria agallocha. In Telugu and Kannada, it is known by the same Sanskrit name as Aguru. It is known as Chénxiāng (沉香) in Chinese, Chimhyang (침향) in Korean, Jinkō (沈香) in Japanese, and trầm hương in Vietnamese; all meaning "deep scent" and alluding to its intense scent. In Japan, there are several grades of Jinkō, the highest of which is known as Kyara (伽羅). In Vietnam, ancient texts also refer to the use of agarwood in relation to travelling Buddhist monks. In Tibetan it is known as ཨ་ག་རུ་ (a-ga-ru). There are several varieties used in Tibetan Medicine: unique eaglewood, yellow eaglewood: ཨ་ག་རུ་སེར་པོ་ (a-ga-ru ser-po), white eaglewood: ཨར་སྐྱ་ (ar-skya), and black eaglewood: ཨར་ནག་(ar-nag). Both agarwood and its resin distillate/extracts are known as oud (عود) in Arabic (literally "rod/stick") and used to describe agarwood in Arab countries. Western perfumers also often use agarwood essential oil under the name "oud" or "oudh". In Europe it was referred to as Lignum aquila (eagle-wood) or Agilawood, from similarity to Tamil-Malayalam aghil. In Indonesian and Malay, it is called gaharu. In The Philippines, it is known as Lapnisan. In Papua New Guinea it is called "ghara" or eagle wood. In Thai it is known as mai kritsana (ไม้กฤษณา). In Laos it is known as mai ketsana (ໄມ້ເກດສະໜາ). In Myanmar (Burmese), it is known as Thit Mhwae (သစ်မွှေး). History The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. In the perfume state, the scent is mainly distinguished by a combination of "oriental-woody" and "very soft fruity-floral" notes. The incense smoke is also characterised by a "sweet-balsamic" note and "shades of vanilla and musk" and amber (not to be confused with ambergris). As a result, agarwood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world, being described as a fragrant product as early as 1400 BCE in the Vedas of India. In the Hebrew Bible, "trees of lign aloes" are mentioned in The Book of Numbers 24:6 and a perfume compounded of aloeswood, myrrh, and cassia is described in Psalms 45. Dioscorides in his book Materia Medica (65 CE) described several medical qualities of agarwood (Áγαλλοχου) and mentioned its use as an incense. Even though Dioscorides describes agarwood as having an astringent and bitter taste, it was used to freshen the breath when chewed or as a decoction held in the mouth. He also writes that a root extract was used to treat stomach complaints and dysentery as well as pains of the lungs and liver. Agarwood's use as a medicinal product was also recorded in the Sahih Muslim, which dates back to approximately the ninth century, and in the Ayurvedic medicinal text the Susruta Samhita. As early as the third century CE in ancient Viet Nam, the chronicle Nan zhou yi wu zhi (Strange things from the South) written by Wa Zhen of the Eastern Wu Dynasty mentioned agarwood produced in the Rinan commandery, now Central Vietnam, and how people collected it in the mountains. During the sixth century CE in Japan, in the recordings of the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan) the second oldest book of classical Japanese history, mention is made of a large piece of fragrant wood identified as agarwoo.... Discover the Jinko Soma popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jinko Soma books.