Peruvian Black Copal (Bursera Copallifera) — 25g

Bursera copallifera is the principal copal-producing species of Peru and the wider Andean region - sister-genus to the Mexican Bursera bipinnata that produces white copal, and to Bursera graveolens that produces palo santo from the dry forests further south. The Burseraceae family stretches across the New World with several species producing resinous saps prized in pre-Columbian aromatic traditions; the Peruvian black copal carries the deepest, darkest character of the three.

The Andean copal tradition has its own continuity - pre-Inka and Inka cultures burned copals and palo santo in domestic and material practice across what is now Peru, with the dry forests of the northern Peruvian coast and the Andean highlands providing the trees. Modern commercial harvest continues from the same regions.

Character on charcoal. Peruvian black copal opens darker than the Mexican white - smokier, with a deeper resinous register and faint hints of cedar in the first minutes. As the resin warms, the scent turns toward earthy balsam with a slight chocolate-like darkness underneath. A heavier room-presence than white copal; closer in body to a darker frankincense than to the lighter copal grades.

1. Hold a charcoal tablet with tongs and light an edge.
2. Wait until the edges glow grey-white (30–45 seconds).
3. Place a small piece of black copal on the warm tablet.
4. The aroma builds slowly - give it room and time.
5. One tear scents a mid-sized room for thirty to forty minutes.

Burn on a heat-proof surface in a ventilated room. Allow charcoal to cool fully before disposal. The darker resin chars more readily than the white copal - handle small pieces.

• Botanical: Bursera copallifera
• Family: Burseraceae - same family as frankincense, myrrh, palo santo, white copal
• Resin: Black copal · Andean grade · dark resin tears
• Origin: Peru
• Weight: 25g
• Format: Glass jar · resin pieces
• Storage: Cool, dry · away from direct light · indefinite shelf life
• Burn behavior: Chars more readily than white copal · slower build than frankincense

The catalogue carries two different products under the "Black Copal" trade name - this Peruvian Bursera copallifera from the Andean range, and a Mexican Protium grandifolium known as Black Copal Intenso. Same trade name, two different genera within the Burseraceae family, two different countries, two distinct aromatic registers. Same trade-names-honesty principle as the catalogue's two Blue Sages (Mexican Salvia azurea and Turkish Salvia libanotica) and the trade-name disclosures for Cedar, Tiger Eye, and Apple Jade. The wider Burseraceae family is one of the most aromatically significant plant families in human history - it produces frankincense in Arabia, myrrh in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, palo santo in Peru and Ecuador, and copal across both Mexico and the Andes. Same family, four continents.