1. Resinous wood, splinters of which are burned to give light.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Candlewood, slips of pine about the thickness of the finger, used in New England … to burn instead of candles.
1857. J. G. Holland, Bay Path, xv. 168. The Candle-wood blazed cheerfully upon the hearth.
2. A popular name of several trees that yield such wood: Californian C., Fouquiera splendens; Jamaica C., Gomphia guianensis; S. American C., Sciadophyllum capitatum; White and Black C. (of the West Indies), Amyris balsamifera.
1712. trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 62. Besides the Candle-Wood, we have … a certain red Wood which they call Coral-Wood.
1756. P. Browne, Jamaica, 203. White Candlewood, or Rose-wood…. The younger trees are frequently cut for firewood … they are full of resin, burn very freely and with a most agreeable smell.
1884. Miller, Plant-n.
