Galbanum

Galbanum, a balsamic gum-resin, light-brown, yellowish or greenish-yellow, translucent, with a musky smell and an acridly bitter taste. It contains a blue oil identical with that of chamomile. Galbanum is mentioned as a spice in Exodus xxx. 34. and as a medicine by Hippocrates, Pliny, and Avicenna. Galbanum is apparently the product of the umbelliferous species, Ferula galbaniflua and F. rubricaulis, natives of Persia, and of F. Schair, native to Turkestan. It is imported in small quantities from Bombay and the Levant.