Camphora officinarum
Family: Lauraceae
Camphora officinarum is a species of evergreen tree indigenous to warm temperate to subtropical regions of East Asia, including countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. It is known by various names, most notably the camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel.
The species is cultivated for camphor and timber production. It was used medicinally and was also an important ingredient in the production of smokeless gunpowder and celluoid. Primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found. The wood was chipped; these chips were steamed in a retort, allowing the camphor to crystallize on the inside of a crystallization box after the vapour had passed through a cooling chamber. It was then scraped off and packed out to government-run factories for processing and sale. Camphor was one of the most lucrative of several important government monopolies under the Japanese.
The wood has an Insect-repellent quality.
Camphor is a white crystalline substance, obtained from the tree camphora. Camphor has been used for many centuries as spice, a component of incense, and as a medicine. It is also an insect repellent and a flea-killing substance.
