Borneo Camphor

The Cinnamomum Camphora is a large tree with lax, smooth branches. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, on long, slender, smooth petioles, somewhat coriaceous, oval, acuminate, attenuate at the base, bright-green and shining above, paler beneath, triple-nerved, with a sunken gland at the axils of the principal veins, projecting at the upper side and opening by an oval pore beneath.

The flowers are small, smooth, yellowish-white, in axillary and terminal, naked corymbose panicles. The leaf-buds are scaly. 

 The camphor tree inhabits the eastern and warmer latitudes of Asia. It thrives in warm countries and is cultivated by the Italians for ornamentation. It is an aromatic tree, all parts of it yielding the odor and giving the taste of camphor. Camphor is obtained in Japan by cutting the wood, roots, etc., of the tree in small pieces, boiling them in water, in large iron stills, fitted with earthen heads, containing straw cones. The water is kept boiling for about 48 hours, the camphor sublimes and concretes upon the straw in the head, in the form of a gray powder. It appears in commerce as whitish, dry, granular cakes, slightly tinged with red, an is known as Japan camphor, or Tub camphor, on account of being imported in a double tub. It was once commercially known as Dutch camphor.

The Chinese pursue a different process. They steep the chopped branches in water, then boil it, continuing the ebullition until a stick placed in the fluid will, when cooled, be covered with the camphor. The liquor is then strained, and by cooling, the camphor solidifies. This is then placed alternately in layers, with powdered dry earth, in a copper vessel, over which another one is placed, and the camphor, being sublimed by heat, attaches itself to the upper inverted vessel. It is of a dirty grayish color, and is known as impure or crude camphor. Though prepared by the Chinese and known as Chinese camphor, it is manipulated in Formosa. None is made in China.

There are a few Borneo Camphor trees in Miri.
Actually the camphor essential oil has several known benefits and is good especially as an anti septic and nervous pacifier. I like it as a natural insecticide. A few Words of Caution: Camphor Oil is toxic and can be fatally poisonous if ingested in excess. Even 2 grams can be lethal. Ingestion in slight overdoses can show symptoms of poisoning such as extreme thirst, vomiting, loss in body temperature etc. It should be remembered that the substance which is toxic for insects can be toxic for human beings too.

Camphor can be used to relieve pain and reduce itching. It can be used to treat fungal infections of the toenail, warts, cold sores, hemorrhoids and osteoarthritis.