A large South American tree or its fragrant seed pod, prized for its intense vanilla-like aroma used in perfumery.
From Tupi language 'cumaru', an indigenous Amazonian word for the tree and its aromatic fruit. This is the original word from which 'cumar', 'cumarin', and related terms derive.
The cumaru tree (also called tonka) produces pods so fragrant they can be used whole to scent a room—Indigenous peoples knew this for centuries before Europeans learned to extract and name the active compound 'coumarin.'
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