Any of various resins obtained from various trees of the genera Shorea, Agathis, or Hopea, growing in the East Indies, New Guinea, and New Zealand. It is obtained by tapping trees or, more rarely, from fossilized specimens from the ground. The gum varies in color from clear to pale yellow, while the fossilized form is grey-brown. Dammar is used as a glazing or clouding agent in cooking, as incense, for caulking ships, and as varnish, especially as a picture varnish.
