I have an eBay listing for some butt-ugly organic-looking beads that I've forgotten why I ever bought them or what the heck they are. I vaguely recollect some sort of b.s. story about how this is gum that drips from shoreline trees near the ocean and get tossed and washed up by the waves.

Is that just a good yarn to get the tourists to buy something, or is this material actually collected for some purpose - e.g., to burn as a fumigant, use as a varnish ingredient?

Does anybody know what it really is?