[stawr-aks, stohr-] 
| 1. | a solid resin with a vanillalike odor, obtained from a small tree, Styrax officinalis: formerly used in medicine and perfumery. |
| 2. | a liquid balsam (liquid storax) obtained from species of liquidambar, esp. from the wood and inner bark of Liquidambar orientalis (Levant storax), a tree of Asia Minor: used chiefly in medicine and perfumery. |
| 3. | any shrub or tree of the genus Styrax, of the storax family, having elongated clusters of showy, white flowers. |
| snow·bell (snō'běl') n. Any of various shrubs or trees of the genus Styrax, especially S. japonicus and S. obassia of eastern Asia, having bell-shaped white flowers. Also called storax. |
| sto·rax (stôr'āks', stōr'-) n.
[Middle English, from Latin, alteration of styrax, from Greek sturax, perhaps of Semitic origin; see  rw in Semitic roots.] |
storax
any of about 120 species of the genus Styrax, shrubs and trees of the family Styracaceae, mostly in tropical or warm regions. The deciduous leaves are alternate and short-stalked. The white flowers, usually borne in pendulous terminal clusters, have a five-lobed corolla (the petals, collectively). Among the best-known cultivated species are S. japonicum (Japanese snowbell), native to East Asia and growing to about 9 metres (30 feet) tall; S. obassia (fragrant snowbell), native to Japan and growing to about 9 metres; S. americana, native to southeastern North America and growing from 1.8 to 2.7 metres (6 to 9 feet); and S. officinalis (snowdrop bush), native to eastern Europe and Asia Minor and growing to about 6 metres (20 feet). A resin known as storax, used in incense, was formerly obtained from S. officinalis.
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