莞香 Aquilaria
莞香源於華南地區，本地亦稱作“土沉香”，以其香味聞名。其樹幹受創傷後會產生香樹脂，即是沉香。沉香在華人社會受到高度重視，歷史悠久，至今已逾數千年，在寺廟中廣泛使用，氣味獨特。
Aquilaria sinensis is a plant found and cultivated in the southern parts of China including Hong Kong. Known locally in Chinese as tuchenxiang 土沉香, guanxiang 莞香, and many other names. The plant is best known for its fragrant wood, known as Agarwood or chenxiang 沈香 in Chinese, when aromatic resin is produced after the plant is traumatized. Agarwood incense made from some varieties of Aquilaria is highly valued in Chinese society with a long history since the first millennium and is widely used even today in Chinese temples of different religious affiliations, creating a unique smellscape in Asia in general.
郭棐 (1595). 粵大記. 廣東沿海圖.
「香港」原來指的現在香港島上的「香港村」（今香港仔附近），殖民時代前是華南地區莞香貿易的集散地。
"Hong Kong" originally refers to the village of Hong Kong, now near Aberdeen on the Island of Hong Kong. Before the colonial period, it was once a place for thriving intra-regional trade in aromatics in South China.
Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part II, p. 137, Table 94, "Constituents of incense, and other, aromatics".
李約瑟博士指出，古代中國的香木和香料一部分來自本土，也有大量來自外地，包括東南亞、南亞、西亞、歐洲和非洲。以沈香為例，儘管後來被視為原生植物的產物，而土沉香在華南地區亦廣為種植，但早期原產地實為南亞和東南亞。
Needham points out that while some Chinese aromatics are indigenous, many are foreign in origin, from Southeast, South, West Asia, Europe, and Africa. As far as Aquilaria and Agarwood are concerned, though the Chinese consider them as native and Aquilaria was indeed widely cultivated in Southern China, their originated from South and Southeast Asia.
左圖：Aquilaria sinesis (Lour.) Spreng. (來源: www.herbarium.gov.hk).
