gamboge

gamboge, hard, brittle gum resin that is obtained from various Southeast Asian trees of the genus Garcinia and is used as a colour vehicle and in medicine. Gamboge is orange to brown in colour and when powdered turns bright yellow. Artists use it as a pigment and as a colouring matter for varnishes. In medicine and veterinary medicine it is a drastic cathartic. On the skin it has a severe irritant effect. Gamboge was probably brought into Europe from the East at the close of the 16th century.

Gamboge is obtained principally from G. xanthochymus, G. hanburyi, and other species, which are dioecious trees with leathery, laurel-like leaves, small white or yellow flowers, and usually few-seeded fruits. The tree’s juice in its hardened form constitutes gamboge. The juice is contained in ducts in the middle layer of the bark and is procured by making incisions in the bark and then collecting the juice as it exudes.