The copaiba trees belong to the genus Copaifera, family Fabaceae, and subfamily Caesalpinoideae. The genus was described the first time by Marcgraf and Piso in 1638, who employed the name “Copaiba” without designating the species . In 1760, Nicolaus Joseph Von Jacquin described the species Copaiva officinalis in the work Enumeratio Systematica Plantarum . Afterwards, in the year 1764, Carl von Linnaeus did a more detailed study of the genus in the work Species Plantarum, in which he described the type species Copaifera officinalis (Jacq.) L. . There are more than 70 Copaifera species distributed throughout the world, with widespread occurrence in Central and South America; there are also four species found in Africa and one species found on the island of Borneo, situated in the Pacific Ocean . Brazil is the country with the greatest biodiversity of Copaifera with 26 species and 8 varieties .