The Incas used it as sacred incense for purification, as it drives away evil spirits and protects against bad luck, malice, curses, and all negative energies. It is widely used in ritual purification and as a folk remedy for stomach pain.

Bursera graveolens, known in Spanish as palo santo (“holy stick”), is a wild tree native from the Yucatan Peninsula to Peru and Venezuela.

Bursera graveolens is found in seasonally dry tropical forests in Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and on the Galapagos Islands. The tree belongs to the same family (Burseraceae) as frankincense and myrrh.