Up to 20 m tall tree with gray-brown bark and branches, bluish white butterfly flowers arranged in clusters. The fruits are brown pods with seeds. Occurrence: Central America, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, southern Mexico.
After debarking the trunk, the tree secretes a dark brown, viscous, vanilla-scented excretory product, perubalsam.
HMPC monograph: Not recommended due to high allergenic potency: skin reactions, anioedema, bronchoconstructive and anaphylactic reactions.
ESCOP: not edited.
Commission E monograph: external: infected, poorly healing wounds, burns, bedsores, chilblains, leg ulcers, prosthetic pressure sores and hemorrhoids, allergic reactions to be noted