STYRAX, the STORAX-TREE; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the dodecandria class of plants. There is but one species, viz. the officinalis. It is a native of Palestine, Syria, the islands of the Archipelago, and also grows plentifully in the neighbourhood of Rome. It rises with a woody stalk 12 or 14 feet high, sending out many ligneous branches covered with a greyish bark. The flowers come out from the sides of the branches upon footstalks, which sustain five or six flowers in a bunch; these have one very white petal, which is funnel-shaped, the lower part being tubulous and cylindrical, and the upper divided into five obtuse segments which spread open, not flat, but rather inclining to an angle.—It may be propagated by sowing the seeds in pots plunged in a moderate hot-bed, towards the latter end of summer. The gum of this tree is very fragrant, and is used in medicine. See STORAX.