There are many plants that fit this description, e.g. tea, anyone? or cinchona the source of the anti-malarial medicine quinine, but here is one I did not know. Gutta percha. By the late 1800’s the British Empire was the largest to have existed, spanning the globe from England to India, Malaya, Australia and Canada. Communication by boat took weeks or months. The invention of the telegraph and the unique properties of Gutta percha enabled the empire to remain manageable well into the 1900’s.
Enjoy this short video from the BBC