Copal
Bursera spp., and others
Family:
Burseraceae (and others)
Origin:
Mesoamerica, South America, South-East Asia
Part(s) used:
resin
Special constituents:
-
Correspondance:
13, 21 (Lee); Sun/Fire (Cunningham)
Uses:
Incense. Magical: love, purification
Copal 
Copal Copal is resin from several tree species. The word comes, through Spanish, from the Aztec Nahuatl copalli. Though chiefly used as an incense, Copal been used for chewing, glueing, bringing rain, purifying meat, and as a medicine against various ailments. It has also been used as a varnish.
As the term Copal has been used by several cultures, and applied to different species of trees, it is indeed a tangled web to define exactly what Copal is. It is all these! A text by Brian Stross ("Mesoamerican Copal Resins") from the University of Texas lists the following species (and that's only the Mesoamerican Copals):
Burseraceae
B. diversifolia Rose [copal] B. excelsa (HBK.) Engl. [copal]
B. tomentosa (Jacq.) Tr. & Pl. [copal]
B.jorullensis (DC.) Engl. [copal]
B. penicillata (DC.) Engl. [copal]
Protium copal (Schlecht. & Cham.; DC) Engl. = Icica copal (Schlecht. & Cham.) [copal]
Hymenea courbaril L. [sausage tree, cuapinol]
*Hymenaea verrucosa
Pinaceae
Pinus pseudostrobus Lindl. [pitchpine, ocote, copal]
Rubiaceae
Coutaria pterosperma
Scent of Earth sells the following copal resins (pictured above):
Gold Copal - Agathis dammara (Araucariaceae) from Manila
White Copal - Bursera jorullense from Mexico
Black Copal - Agathis dammara from the Phillipines.
Confused? Don't worry! All of these trees produce wonderful resins, although they are all a bit different. Try a few out. Copal is really worth the effort, and it's not too expensive.