Boswellia sacra

''Boswellia sacra'' (commonly known as frankincense or olibanum-tree) is a tree in the Burseraceae family. It is the primary tree in the genus ''Boswellia'' from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested. It is native to the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen), and horn of Africa (Somalia).

Description

This species of ''Boswellia'' is a small deciduous tree, which reaches a height of , with one or more trunks. Its bark has the texture of paper and can be removed easily. It has compound leaves and an odd number of leaflets, which grow opposite to one another along its branches. Its tiny flowers, a yellowish white, are gathered in axillary clusters composed of five petals, ten stamens and a cup with five teeth. The fruit is a capsule about long. The new leaves are covered with a fine down.

Individual trees growing on steep slopes tend to develop some buttressing that extends from the roots up into the base of the stem. This forms a sort of cushion that adheres to the rock and ensures a certain stability.

Occurrence and habitat

''B. sacra'' tolerates the most critical situations and often grows on rocky slopes and ravines, up to an elevation of , mostly in calcareous soil. ''Boswellia sacra'' is abundant in Oman in arid woodland, on the steep, precariously eroding slopes in the mountains of Dhofar, but it is most prevalent in Eastern and northern Somalia.

In Somalia, frankincense is harvested in mainly Bari and in east of Sanaag; and west to laasqorey; and calmadow mountain range, a westerly escarpment that runs parallel to the coast; also middle segment of the frankincense-growing escarpment; Karkaar mountains or eastern escarpment, which lies at the eastern fringe of the frankinscence escarpment.

In Dhofar, Oman, frankincense species grow North of Salalah and were traded in the ancient coastal city of Sumhuram, now Khor Rori.

Resin

The trees start producing resin when they are about 8 to 10 years old.

The resin is extracted by making a small, shallow incision on the trunk or branches of the tree or by removing a portion of the crust of it. The resin is drained as a milky substance that coagulates in contact with air and is collected by hand.

Growing conditions vary significantly, affecting both tree development and resin produced. Trees in the narrow fog-laden zone where the desert meets Dhofar mountain range, a region known as the ''Nejd'', grow extremely slowly and produce very high quality resin in large, white clumps. Omanis and other Gulf State Arabs consider this to be superior to all other resins produced in North and Northeast Africa, India, and Asia, and it is priced accordingly.
The most widely accepted opinion is that the vast boswellia forests which have existed for millennia in modern day Somalia produce a superior quality resin. Many reports have suggested that there is an existing phenomenon of middle eastern traders reselling the superior Somali product and marketing it as a product grown indigenously in their own respective lands.

Threats

There are many initiatives taken by owners of the lands where ''Boswellia sacra'' grows, and organizations like the international banks have invested in harvesting new trees and making protection tools for the regions where the trees are mostly growing. It has helped in the increase of production of the resin.

In culture

According to Greek mythology, the frankincense had once been a mortal woman named Leucothoe. The god of the sun Helios fell in love with her, and left his previous lover Clytie. In bitterness, Clytie informed Leucothoe's father Orchamus who buried his daughter alive. Helios arrived too late to save her, but not wanting to leave her rot underneath the soil, he turned her into an incense tree so that she could still breathe air.

Gallery

File:Boswellia sacra - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-022.jpg, ''Boswellia sacra'' illustration
File:Boswellia-sacra-greenhouse.jpg, ''Boswellia sacra'' inside Biosphere 2
File:Frankincense 2005-12-31.jpg, Boswellia Frereana resin, not Boswellia Sacra

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133964

sacra
Plants described in 1867
Flora of Oman
Flora of Somalia
Trees of the Arabian Peninsula
Medicinal plants of Africa
Near threatened plants
South Arabia