Murabilia, the Lucca plant show was held last weekend with lots of temptation for those interested in summer dry plants. I was unable to resist a herb with the common name Balsam of Gilead as I have recently been reading Andrew Dalby's Dangerous Tastes, The Story of Spices. So I bought the plant for its name.
Alas it bears no relation to the ancient Balsam of Gilead, Commiphora opobalsamum. The resin was tapped from that tree and sent to Rome where Martial wrote of fashionable men combing curled hair neatly and always smelling of balsam and cinnamon. Later the name transferred to Populus xjackii a cross including P.balsamifera. Again it was a source of scented resin.
I have been unable to find how or why the name then became transferred to my rather uninteresting looking shrub from the Canaries, although I have heard that it is good cooked with chicken. Does anyone have further information? In particular I would like to ask Oron if he sees Commiphora and if the resin is still collected.