Tacamahaca. There is a good deal of confusion in botanic and commercial circles as to the trees which produce this resin, for Elemi (q.v.) and other resins are often confounded with it, most of these being produced in Brazil by different species of Icica. The fragrant bitter resin from Brazil is chiefly yielded by Icica tacamahaca, but other species, as I. heptaphylla, I. icicariba, &c., furnish a similar resin, known locally as 'almaceja,' which is used in medicine and the arts, and burned as incense in the churches. One Tacamahaca, from Elaphium Jacquinianum, sells in
Mexico at a dollar a pound, and is called Caricario in Venezuela. Calophyllum calaba yields East Indian tacamahaca, which somewhat resembles species of olibanum, and gives off a similar odour when heated. The Mexican tacamahaca is usually called shell-tacamahaca, but is better known as Elemi. Populus balsamifera is termed the Tacamahac poplar, but it yields little or no resin, the leaf buds only being used in ointments to prevent rancidity.