Labdanum is a sticky, dark brown resin obtained across the Mediterranean from various species of rockrose (Cistus), an independent plant family unrelated to true roses. In summer, an oily resin exudes from the leaves and twigs of these shrubs under the heat of the sun, as though the plant were sweating. Today, most labdanum comes from the gum rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) in the western Mediterranean, which produces significantly more resin than other species; in antiquity, the resin of the eastern Cretan rockrose (Cistus creticus) was chiefly used. The name "rockrose" reflects the plant's rose-like, mostly white to pink flowers, though botanically Cistus is unrelated to true roses; the genus name itself derives from the Greek word for "capsule," referring to its capsule-like seed pods.

The name labdanum derives from the Syro-Phoenician word "ladan," meaning "sticky herb." The resin was traditionally harvested in a highly unusual way: the Greek scholar Dioscorides described how shepherds drove their goats and sheep through dense rockrose thickets, later combing the sticky resin lumps out of the animals' fur and beards — a method still practiced in Crete into modern times, using leather straps in place of ropes. Already in ancient Egypt its sweet, animalic scent was highly prized, forming part of the famous incense blend "Kyphi." For centuries labdanum also served as a remedy — valued for its antiseptic and expectorant properties, among others — and was considered one of antiquity's most coveted aphrodisiacs. Some ancient writers, including Herodotus, described the unusual goat-combing harvest method in detail and with evident astonishment at the laborious process. The Bible also mentions a resin called "lot," which many scholars identify with labdanum — said to have been among the goods carried to Egypt by the merchants in the story of Joseph.

Burned as incense, labdanum releases a warm, sweet, leathery, animalic scent with a subtle, honey-like depth and notes of earth, dried fruit, and smoky vanilla. Because of its resemblance to ambergris, rarely used today for conservation reasons, labdanum remains one of the most important ingredients in perfumery for creating warm, amber-toned accords in oriental and chypre compositions, though burned as incense it develops an entirely distinctive character of its own. Some modern perfumers also value labdanum as a natural alternative to synthetic fixatives, since it lends fragrance compositions exceptional longevity on the skin.