Balm,
a tree the specific name being given because it was once supposed to be the Scriptural "Balm of Gilead" -- an opinion probably erroneous, for it does not at present grow in Gilead, either wild or in gardens, nor has it ever been satisfactorily proved that it ever did. It is a shrub or small spreading spineless tree, 10 to 12 feet high, with trifoliate leaves in fascicles of 2-6, and reddish flowers having four petals. It is found on both sides of the Red Sea, in Arabia, Abyssinia, and Nubia. It does not occur in Palestine.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.