Eaglewood

Eaglewood - Aquilaria Agalocha

Although not used for furniture, this wood is highly prized in China for its ability to produce one of the world’s most expensive fragrances, ‘aloes’ or ‘agar’. The highly valuable wood can be harvested and used for small items such as brush pots where it is appreciated for its uncanny appearance of its outer surface to the soI feathers of an eagle.

The trees are found in many parts of S.E. Asia and are known by a variety of local names applied to two species whose scien9fic name is Aquilara Malaccensis Lam. or Aquilaria agallocha. The fascina9on with these trees is because occasionally the trunk and roots of trees are infected by a parasi9c mould, Phialophora parasi9ca, and as a response, the tree produces a resin high in vola9le organic compounds that aids in suppressing or retarding fungal growth. While the unaffected wood of the tree is rela9vely light in colour, the resin drama9cally increases the mass and density of the affected wood, changing its colour from a pale beige to dark brown or black. In natural forest only 7 % of the trees are infected by the fungus.

This fungally affected core of the tree is called Aloeswood (also Agarwood) and can be found in China Hainan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. First-grade agarwood is one of the most expensive natural raw materials in the world, with 2010 prices for superior pure material as high as US$100,000/kg. It is the source material for Oudh oil which is dis9lled from it, and fetches high prices depending on the oil's purity. The current global market for agarwood is es9mated to be in the range of US$6 – 8 billion and is growing rapidly. The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. In the perfume state, the scent is mainly dis9nguished by a combina9on of "oriental-woody" and "very soI fruity-floral" notes.

The popularity and value of Oudh, especially in the Middle East, has led to programs to ar9ficially innoculate trees with the fungus and thus increase the yield of this valuable commodity.

Natural forests have been the main resource for Aloeswood collec9on for many years. However, hunters usually cut down the whole trees to find the resin and this prac9ce has brought the species close to ex9nc9on. Major harves9ng was recorded between the 1980s and early 1990s in Indonesia caused by high demand and diminishing supply from countries like Vietnam and Cambodia. Illicit hun9ng occurred in Papua aIer illegal hunters landed in 1996 that has led to defensive ac9vity by the Indonesian government.

In November 1994, Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk. was ini9ally listed in CITES Appendix II to prevent this species from ex9nc9on. However, con9nual excessive exploita9ons have then put two genera Aquilaria and Gyrinops in CITES, Appendix II.

The ‘bitong’ or brush pot pictured opposite, is made from the eaglewood leI behind aIer the precious aloeswood has been extracted from its woody heart.

Eaglewood Brush Pot

(Author’s Collection)

Artificial innoculation of Aquilaria trees