Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
Hello all! I wanted to learn more about the classification of Agarwood species, and what makes species different from one another, as well as the meaning of their names.

I've done some research and defined some of the Latin terms, mainly of the Aquilaria genus, although I have not found any definitions regarding Gyrinops.
 

Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
Here are some of the latin definitions I've found:


Agallocha:

Resinous aromatic tree.


Apiculata:

Abrupt, short point.


Aquilaria:

Eagle in Latin, ie. Eagleswood, Agarwood. Previously Agallaria (Agal Wood).


Beccariana:

Named for Odoardo Beccari, 20th century Italian botanist.


Cumingiana:

Hugh Cumin, 19th century British botanist.


Grandiflora:

With large flowers.


Hirta:

Shaggy, Hairy, Rough.


Malaccensis:

Native from Malacca, the region including the island of Sumatra and continental Asia.


Microcarpa:

Tiny fruit.


Sinensis:

From China, Chinese.


Subintegra:

Almost entire.
 

Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
Great post @Alkhadra and interesting to see the meanings of the different species, did you find anything on Crassna? It would also be interesting to know in order the rarity of each species :Geek:
Crassna was actually one of the ones I've struggled looking for :(

Still looking for:
Crassna
Filaria
Khasiana
Gyrinops
Gyrinops Walla

I theorize Gyrinops Ledermanni could be named after a German botanist with the last name Ledermann. :Geek:

As for the rarity, yes! That would be interesting as well.
 

Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
I already looked but did not find definition of name yet haha :Laugh:

I did find one difference between Aquilaria and Gyrinops, which is the stamen per petal ratio on the flowers of the tree.

(stamens are the male organs of the plant that contain pollen)

Gyrinops: has 1 stamen per petal, 1:1 ratio.

Aquilaria: has 2 stamens per petal, 2:1 ratio.

Which might be why there are more species of Aquilaria (higher population) :Roflmao: better ability to produce offspring haha! However, it must be noted that this is NOT a defining factor of species differentiation. As the number of stamens is generally a trait that is ancestral in origin.
 
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American Oud

Junior Member
The latin prefix gyr means round, and gyrinos means tadpole, or something tadpole-shaped. Ops means 'resembling.' If you look at agarwood seeds, they do look like tadpoles (pic 1), but that is also characteristic of Aquillaria, (even more so actually – see pic 2), but then the person who discovered gyrinops may not have been aware of other species of agarwood, or just thought it sounded nice…

walla-patta-seeds.jpg
seed-for-plant.jpg
 

Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
The latin prefix gyr means round, and gyrinos means tadpole, or something tadpole-shaped. Ops means 'resembling.' If you look at agarwood seeds, they do look like tadpoles (pic 1), but that is also characteristic of Aquillaria, (even more so actually – see pic 2), but then the person who discovered gyrinops may not have been aware of other species of agarwood, or just thought it sounded nice…

walla-patta-seeds.jpg
seed-for-plant.jpg
Great and informative post! Sadly I am not very good and breaking down Latin to better understand botanical terminology.

I'm still looking for the definition of Crassna. The only thing I can think of is Crassus which means thick or thickened. As you said gyrinos means tadpole or tadpole shaped. Crassigyrinus would mean "thick-tadpole". What do you think? Crass-yes or Crass-nah? :Cooler:
 

Faizal_p

Sulaym.co.uk
Lol, from my previous research I read somewhere that Crassna is from the Hindu God Krishna. Supposedly this was a wood either burnt by him or for him according to Hindu tradition. This slowly became kriisna then Crassna... Not sure about the truth in the story though
 

F4R1d0uX

Resident Artisan
Great and informative post! Sadly I am not very good and breaking down Latin to better understand botanical terminology.

I'm still looking for the definition of Crassna. The only thing I can think of is Crassus which means thick or thickened. As you said gyrinos means tadpole or tadpole shaped. Crassigyrinus would mean "thick-tadpole". What do you think? Crass-yes or Crass-nah? :Cooler:

Gyros maybe greek but very nice explanation !
 

Alkhadra

"Master Kafeel" Resident Artisan
Lol, from my previous research I read somewhere that Crassna is from the Hindu God Krishna. Supposedly this was a wood either burnt by him or for him according to Hindu tradition. This slowly became kriisna then Crassna... Not sure about the truth in the story though

Wow! Haha, that is actually an interesting story..hmm, will have to look into that. There may be some truth to it, as in Cambodia, Oud is called "Chann Crassna", and in neighboring Thailand, it's called "Mai Krishna"

Also was trying to figure out what Walla Patta means, since the species is Gyrinops Walla, where did the Patta part come from? This may be the answer:

Screen Shot 2017-05-06 at 1.24.48 PM.png

(taken from "The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volumes 12-13, page 117)

So Patta means fibrous, what does Walla mean? o_O

Gyros maybe greek but very nice explanation !

I think you're just hungry and thinking about gyros, like shawarma but with lamb instead of chicken. :handfist::Roflmao:
 
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F4R1d0uX

Resident Artisan
Wow! Haha, that is actually an interesting story..hmm, will have to look into that. There may be some truth to it, as in Cambodia, Oud is called "Chann Crassna", and in neighboring Thailand, it's called "Mai Krishna"

Also was trying to figure out what Walla Patta means, since the species is Gyrinops Walla, where did the Patta part come from? This may be the answer:

View attachment 807

So Patta means fibrous, what does Walla mean? o_O



I think you're just hungry and thinking about gyros, like shawarma but with lamb instead of chicken. :handfist::Roflmao:

Ahahh yep that's the case Gyros because meet turn in round while heated.
 

Santal Claus

True Ouddict
Ahahh yep that's the case Gyros because meet turn in round while heated.
@F4R1d0uX If I had a penny for every time you have made me laugh on this forum...I'd be rich as the saying in English goes. I really like the etymology of the names. At some point, the botanist/other that really put their heart into the identification of these plants decided a fitting description. With newly discovered plants in general we usually know why there is a certain naming custom because it is usually (but not always) explained in the news. It is nice to see the well-known species we enjoy described.

@Alkhadra and @F4R1d0uX Saturday laziness abounds in me, so I didn't care to search your definition and I am unfamiliar with the base language used. Was it Thai, or is this something from Tamil? It doesn't sound Thai, but I am sure I could be mistaken. I am no expert on language. Spanish and English are my languages, and Portuguese suffers greatly under my Spanish-speaking tongue. The Portuguese call it portuñol...I just call it horrible Portuguese. I am sure Farid can tell us there is some odd mix of French and Portuguese that I don't know about.
 

F4R1d0uX

Resident Artisan
@F4R1d0uX If I had a penny for every time you have made me laugh on this forum...I'd be rich as the saying in English goes. I really like the etymology of the names. At some point, the botanist/other that really put their heart into the identification of these plants decided a fitting description. With newly discovered plants in general we usually know why there is a certain naming custom because it is usually (but not always) explained in the news. It is nice to see the well-known species we enjoy described.

@Alkhadra and @F4R1d0uX Saturday laziness abounds in me, so I didn't care to search your definition and I am unfamiliar with the base language used. Was it Thai, or is this something from Tamil? It doesn't sound Thai, but I am sure I could be mistaken. I am no expert on language. Spanish and English are my languages, and Portuguese suffers greatly under my Spanish-speaking tongue. The Portuguese call it portuñol...I just call it horrible Portuguese. I am sure Farid can tell us there is some odd mix of French and Portuguese that I don't know about.

In which word lol ?
Happy I made you laugh ahaha !!
If gyros would be latin I would recognize it since I past 4 years in a merely empty school class with a soporific latin teacher who was just the sozy of Jessica Fletcher kinda traumatised.
 

F4R1d0uX

Resident Artisan
Ha! Just most of the words posted in that excerpt. I just want to know the language of origin. Btw, isn't gyros called doner in most of Europe? I know the Turkish word is used a lot more in places.
Gyros is in ancient greek what döner is in turkish well done :Thumbsup:

In France we are used to kebab.

Just Parisians call it a "greek".
 

F4R1d0uX

Resident Artisan
Wow! Haha, that is actually an interesting story..hmm, will have to look into that. There may be some truth to it, as in Cambodia, Oud is called "Chann Crassna", and in neighboring Thailand, it's called "Mai Krishna"

Also was trying to figure out what Walla Patta means, since the species is Gyrinops Walla, where did the Patta part come from? This may be the answer:

View attachment 807

So Patta means fibrous, what does Walla mean? o_O



I think you're just hungry and thinking about gyros, like shawarma but with lamb instead of chicken. :handfist::Roflmao:

Oh I got it @Santal Claus walla = valla in latin it means barriers or fences.

Maybe walla patta = fibrous barriers ?
 
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