What is the Gyrinops Tree? The Second Genus That Produces Oud

When oud is mentioned, the genus Aquilaria comes to mind as the most famous source. But oud does not come from a single genus; for alongside Aquilaria stands a second genus, less famous and authentic in producing oud, which is Gyrinops. In this article we introduce — from the store Oud Treasure — this genus: what it is botanically, where its presence is mentioned, whether it produces real oud, what its relationship to Aquilaria is, its most prominent species, its position regarding the CITES convention, and what all of that means for you as a buyer. We write it in an honest language: we mention what the sources support with reservation, and we do not invent geographical ranges nor scent descriptions nor a chemical composition that cannot be proven.

1. What is the Gyrinops tree?

The genus Gyrinops is one of the two botanical genera that the scientific reviews agree are the primary source of oud, the other being Aquilaria. And the two genera belong — as the botanical sources mention — to the family Thymelaeaceae, a family that includes tropical trees and shrubs. So Gyrinops then is not an inferior substitute for Aquilaria, but a sibling genus that stands alongside it among the oud-producing trees.

And the general picture that the references draw is that the trees of Gyrinops are tropical evergreen trees, sharing with Aquilaria in the general mechanism of the formation of oud: for the wood is in its origin pale, light, and of little scent, but it transforms — in response to the wounding of the tree and its infection with a fungal infection — into a dark, heavy wood saturated with the aromatic resin, which is what we call oud. And this common denominator in the mechanism of formation is part of what makes the two genera close in the final product.

And because Gyrinops is less circulated in the Arab market than Aquilaria, some buyers think it a marginal name or a secondary species. And honesty requires correcting this impression: for Gyrinops is one of the two main genera that produce oud according to what the references support, and the scarcity of its commercial fame does not mean the scarcity of its botanical significance. And this article is a part of the botanical guide to the species of oud trees in which we introduce the two genera and their most prominent species.

2. Its presence in eastern Indonesia

Among the most prominent of what is mentioned about the genus Gyrinops is its association with eastern Indonesia specifically. For according to what the reviews indicate, the presence of this genus tends toward the eastern regions of the archipelago — in a range in which Papua, the Maluku islands, and Nusa Tenggara (the Lesser Sunda Islands) are mentioned, reaching to the range of New Guinea. And this is a general direction gleaned from the sources, not a decisive geographical boundary; since the precise boundaries of the distribution of the genus remain a subject of scientific detail we are not decisive about.

And this geographical tendency connects to what we know about the eastern origins of Indonesian oud. So whoever wants the wider map of the habitats of oud trees in general finds it in where oud grows, and whoever wants the regional detail, for Papua oud there is an independent guide, and for the Maluku islands another guide, and both are among the eastern origins in which this genus is mentioned.

And what is important is to point out that the attribution of an eastern origin to the genus Gyrinops specifically remains indicative; for the geographical origin is one thing, and the botanical genus is another thing, and they may overlap without necessarily matching. Therefore we say that Gyrinops "is mentioned as present" in the east of the archipelago, and we do not say that every eastern oud is Gyrinops or the reverse. This distinction is a part of the scientific honesty that we commit to.

3. Does Gyrinops produce real oud?

A question that recurs often: is the oud of Gyrinops "real oud" or an inferior substitute? And the honest answer based on the references: yes, Gyrinops produces real oud, no less in its botanical authenticity than the oud of Aquilaria. For both genera belong to the family Thymelaeaceae, and both form the aromatic resin by the same mechanism in response to the wound and the infection. So the oud from Gyrinops is oud in every sense of the word, not a similar or imitated product.

As for the sensory character — the scent and the breath — here we pause with caution. For in what circulates among the people of oud, a character is sometimes attributed to the oud of the eastern origins that is described as quieter or smoother, but we do not make of this a decisive botanical rule; for the scent is affected by the origin, the infection, the grade, and the manner of heating more than it is affected by the botanical genus alone. Whoever wants the detail of the character of Indonesian oud and its variation by origin finds it in the characteristics of the scent of Indonesian oud.

So the conclusion is that the authenticity of oud is not measured by its botanical genus: Aquilaria oud and Gyrinops oud are both real oud, and the judgment on the quality is by the grade, the density of the resin, and the character, not by the belonging of the tree to this genus or that. And whoever sells you an oud as "finer" merely for its attribution to a particular genus goes beyond what the botanical knowledge supports.

4. Its relationship to the genus Aquilaria

The relationship between Gyrinops and Aquilaria is a relationship of close kinship. For the two genera — as the sources mention — belong to the same family Thymelaeaceae, and they share in producing oud by the same mechanism, so much so that it is difficult for the non-specialist to distinguish between them by looking at the wood alone. And whoever wants the expanded introduction to the first genus should see what is the Aquilaria tree.

And the closeness of the two genera is not merely formal; for their classification witnessed reviews in the history of botany, and it is mentioned that species were reclassified or moved between the two genera with the progress of the study. And this in itself is evidence that the boundaries between them are not sharp as may be thought, and that the botanical classification is a process that evolves, not settled once. Therefore we formulate this matter with reservation, and we are not decisive about a taxonomic detail that goes beyond what has settled in the references.

And the difference between the two genera — in the botanical kinship, the geographical tendency, and the limits of what can be said with confidence — remains a subject that deserves an independent treatment; and we dedicate to it an article titled "the difference between Aquilaria and Gyrinops" within this guide, in which we fulfill the comparison honestly. As for what concerns us here, it is that Gyrinops is a genus standing on its own, a sibling of Aquilaria, not subordinate to it.

5. The species of Gyrinops

The genus Gyrinops includes a number of species, of which we cover in this guide four with independent articles that we build gradually. And we affirm that what we mention is an indicative, non-exhaustive list; for the species of the genus mentioned in the sources may be more, and we do not intend enumeration nor do we fix a decisive number.

And among these species is Gyrinops versteegii, which is mentioned as among the most repeated species of the genus in the sources and the most associated with the east of the archipelago and Nusa Tenggara; and Gyrinops caudata, which appears in the botanical reviews among the species of the eastern regions; and Gyrinops ledermannii, whose association with New Guinea and the far eastern range of the archipelago is mentioned; and Gyrinops salicifolia, whose name appears among the species of the genus. And each of these species has an independent article in which we review what the sources mention about it with reservation.

And we deliberately do not stick to each species a "scent fingerprint" or a specific chemical composition; for such attributions need a laboratory analysis, and they vary within the single species according to the environment, the infection, and the grade. What we say with confidence is that these species belong to the genus Gyrinops, and that they are among the oud-producing trees, and that distinguishing them one from another — and from the species of Aquilaria — needs botanical expertise, not merely a look or a smell.

6. Gyrinops and the CITES convention

The talk about the genus Gyrinops is not complete without mentioning its international regulatory dimension. For according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), oud trees were included in Appendix II of the convention, which is an appendix that regulates the international trade in the species to preserve their survival without preventing it entirely.

And the detail of that — as the convention mentions — is that the genus Gyrinops with its entire species was included in Appendix II since the year 2004 (in the same expansion that included the rest of the species of the genus Aquilaria, after Aquilaria malaccensis had been included on its own since 1995). That is, all the species of Gyrinops are today included in Appendix II of CITES. We attribute these facts to the convention as their source. And the story of the inclusion of oud in CITES and its motives we addressed in the history of the CITES convention and oud.

And it is good to note that the inclusion of a genus in Appendix II does not mean the prevention of trade in it, as may be thought; rather it means regulating it with documentation so that it takes place within controls that ensure the exploitation does not harm the survival of the species in the wild. So when you buy Gyrinops oud you are buying a product from a genus subject to international protection, and this makes the transparency of the source and the documentation an important criterion, not a marginal detail. We attribute this understanding to the framework of the convention as its reference.

7. What does this mean for the buyer?

After this botanical introduction, a practical question remains: does one buy oud by its botanical genus? The honest answer: not in the first place. For the botanical genus is a useful background that deepens your understanding, but what you actually buy is the origin, the grade, and the scent — and these are what you test and decide on the basis of. And knowing that an oud is mentioned as being of the genus Gyrinops does not settle the buying decision alone, especially since determining the genus and the species precisely is a difficult matter in the first place.

Nevertheless this knowledge retains its practical benefit: for since it is mentioned that the eastern origins of the archipelago — like Papua and Maluku — often have this genus predominant in them, your understanding of this association helps you to read what is offered to you with a more aware eye, without it turning into a decisive rule that attributes every eastern oud to Gyrinops. The more worthwhile thing is that you rely on what can be verified: from which origin the oud came, and which grade it is, and how you smell it yourself, which is what we guide you to in how to choose an authentic Indonesian oud.

And because the scent is an experience that no scientific name nor botanical genus describes, the best thing to start with is a sample by which you test the origin, the grade, and the character directly; we provide for this the samples service, and a wider entrance to the eastern oud origins in the Papua oud collection and to Indonesian oud in general in the Indonesian oud collection. For the botanical knowledge illuminates your path, but the sense of smell is the final judge. And to place this genus in its wider context among the oud-producing trees, return to the botanical guide to the species of oud trees.