Day 337: For the last several years, Sound & Fury has danced at St. Luke's English Fete in Renton. We did so again yesterday, and afterwards I sat for an hour with the ladies who were spinning wool, the conversation centered on the topics of fiber and sheep. As I stood up to leave, that which had been hanging above my head the whole time caught my eye. "What in the heck is THAT?" I said, and anyone who has ever been on a botany hike with me would have recognized my tone: Crow had found a mystery plant.
The mystery proved fairly easy to solve. Mark Turner's excellent "Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest" gave me my first clue. Although only a rare bush-like California species (S. redivivus) is included in the book, further digging brought up descriptions of other Styrax species. While I am not 100% positive that this is S. officinalis (my specimen was a little the worse for wear by the time I got it home), the height of the tree exceeds the upper limits for S. redivivus by a substantial margin. S. officinalis is also more likely to be available from commercial growers.
According to my references, the resin of S. officinalis is fragrant, and it (or that from related species) can be used in combination with other substances to make incense and perfumes. Indeed, my fingers were left very sticky after peeling the outer husk (still green and sappy) away from a small brown nutlet. The flowers of the tree are white and also highly aromatic, in appearance not too unlike those of shadbush (serviceberry). I think I'm going to have to take a trip back to St. Luke's in the spring when the tree is in full bloom.
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