CAMPHORA, a genus of plants belonging to the Lauraceas, of which three species, C. glanduli f era, C. officinarum, and C. porrecta occur in the south and east of Asia.
Camphora glandulifera, Nees, is the Laurus glandulifera, Wall. It is a tree of the Nepal mountains, with small yellowish-green odoriferous flowers, and pale yellow light wood, smelling strongly of camphor while fresh. It is weak and unfit for furniture. Its bark has been named the sassafras of Nepal. Dr. Boyle says (Ill. Him. Bot.) it contains solid grains of camphor in its wood. —Voigt, p. 308 ; Boyle, p. 324 ; O'Sh. p. 545.
Camphora officinarum. Bauh. Laurus cam phora, Linn., officinal camphor tree, camphor laurel. A considerable tree of Cochin-China, For mosa, Japan, and China, principally near Chin ch; in the province of Foh-kien ; also in Canton, Hu-peh, Kwang-si, and Foh-kien. The tree fur nishes excellent planks, beams, and boards. Cam phor is diffused through all parts of the plant ; the root, trunk, and branches, when cut into chips, are boiled in water and then sublimed into inverted straw cones contained within earthen capitals. It is thus obtained in the form of crude camphor, chiefly from the province of Foh-kien and the oppo site island of Formosa, but some of good quality is also procured from Japan. It is sometimes imported into Britain from Batavia.—Williams'
Middle Kingdom, ii. p. 137 ; O'Shaughnessy, p. 455.
Camphora porrecta. Linn.
C. parthenoxylon, Laurus pseudo sassafras, Laurns „ Jack. • Blain.
A tree of Penang, Sumatra, and Java, furnish ing a strong wood, which is durable if kept dry. —Voigt; Roxb. ii. 708.
Camphor Oil, Kapur minyak, MALAY ; the liquid camphor of the Dryobalanops camphora tree.
Camphor Cup, a cup for use after the manner of the quassia-wood or bitter cup.' Camphor Wood of Sumatra is from the Dryo balanops camphora, of which the wood is hard, compact, and brownish-coloured. The fragrant, light-coloured, soft wood of which the trunks and boxes of China are made, is supposed to be that of the camphor tree of Japan, Laurus cainpliora, or Camphora officinarum. Camphor wood is valuable for the construction of chests and aliniralts, as its powerful odour protects the contents from the ravages of white ants and other insects. The Martaban camphor-wood, Laurus sassafras, is from a very large tree, scattered sparsely throughout the Tenasserim provinces. Wallich wrote that it was very like Laurus glandu lifera, which furnishes the sassafras and camphor wood of Nepal. The Karens call it the tree galanga,' from its fragrance.— Holtz; Mason ; 0' Shaughness.g.