What is Aloeswood / Argawood?

Aloeswood is an aromatic, resinous heartwood that is found in trees from the aquilaria genus, an evergreen native to South East Asia. It is thought that aloeswood is created by a reaction from an injury to the tree, starting an infection and thus triggering the oleoresin to grow within the heartwood of the tree. It is this resin-impregnated heartwood, which is the actual aloeswood product and is extracted for use as raw wood chips and powder or processed into an oil.

Aloeswood has been highly valued in many societies and cultures for millennia and used for a variety of reasons from sacred, to medicinal, to olfactory. The wood chips and powder are used for incense and medicine while the oil extract is generally for perfume and aromatherapy purposes.

From a medicinal standpoint, it has been used in traditional Chinese (TCM), Tibetan, Ayurveda, and Unani (Graeco-Arabic) medicines, in many different applications from rubs to tinctures to teas. From a religious and sacred perspective, aloeswood is mentioned several times in both the Bible and Islamic Hadith (spoken traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), and is also used in a variety of religious ceremonies ranging from Islamic prayer and burial observances, to Buddhist rituals from Vietnam, Japan, China, and Taiwan. In Arab society, aloeswood is highly prized and burned for guests as a sign of respect and in Japan aloeswood is used in the ancient koh doh or “listening to incense” ceremony (Burfield, et. al., www.cropwatch.org). Aloeswood has also been used as an ingredient in many western perfumes for hundreds of years.

These varied uses across time and geographical local have secured its importance in trade and economy on an international level (Paoli et al., 1723), specifically throughout Asia and the Middle East, the two regions where it is used most. It is known in these different cultures by many names, including aloeswood, agarwood, agar, oud, gaharu, eagleswood and calembac.

Also reference from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agarwood