Myrrh is a gum-resin extracted from a few small, thorny tree species of the Commiphora genus, belonging to the Burseraceae family. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history in medicine, perfumery, and incenses. Myrrh mixed with posca or wine was widely used in many ancient cultures to produce pleasurable feelings and as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic.
Frankincense is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French franc encens. There are several species of Boswellia that produce true frankincense: Boswellia sacra, B. frereana, B. serrata, and B. papyrifera. Resin from each is available in various grades, which depends on the time of harvesting. The resin is hand-sorted for quality.
Boswellia is a genus of trees in the order Sapindales, known for its fragrant resin. The biblical incense frankincense is an extract from the resin of the tree Boswellia sacra, and is now produced also from B. frereana. Boswellia species are moderate-sized flowering plants, including both trees and shrubs.
The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of woody flowering plants. The actual numbers given in taxonomic sources differ according to taxonomic revision at the time of writing. The Burseraceae are also known as the torchwood family, the frankincense and myrrh family, or simply the incense tree family. The family includes both trees and shrubs; its species are native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas.
The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Northeastern Africa and Arabia to India and beyond. These routes collectively served as channels for the trading of goods such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh; Indian spices, precious stones, pearls, ebony, silk and fine textiles; and from the Horn of Africa, rare woods, feathers, animal skins, Somali frankincense, gold, and slaves. The incense land trade from South Arabia to the Mediterranean flourished between roughly the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD.
Ceratonia is small genus of flowering trees in the pea family, Fabaceae, endemic to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Its best known member is the carob tree, which is cultivated for its edible pods and has been widely introduced to regions with similar climates. The genus was long considered monotypic, but a second species, Ceratonia oreothauma, was identified in 1979 from Oman and Somalia. The genus is in subfamily Caesalpinioideae and tribe Umtizieae.
The genus of the myrrhs, Commiphora, is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the (sub-) tropical regions of Africa, the western Indian Ocean islands, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and South America. The genus is drought-tolerant and common throughout the xerophytic scrub, seasonally dry tropical forests, and woodlands of these regions.
Commiphora myrrha, called myrrh, African myrrh, herabol myrrh, Somali myrrhor, common myrrh, is a tree in the Burseraceae family. It is one of the primary trees used in the production of myrrh, a resin made from dried tree sap. The tree is native to the Arabian peninsula and to Africa. It is called 'mur' (المر) in Arabic, meaning bitter. It famously comes from Mecca, so it is called 'Mur Makki'.
Commiphora gileadensis, the Arabian balsam tree, is a shrub species in the genus Commiphora growing in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, southern Oman, Sudan and in southeast Egypt where it may have been introduced. Other common names for the plant include balm of Gilead and Mecca myrrh, but this is due to historical confusion between several plants and the historically important expensive perfumes and drugs obtained from them.
Boswellia sacra is a tree in the Burseraceae family, which is the primary tree in the genus Boswellia from which is frankincense is harvested. The olibanum tree is plant native to the Arabian Peninsula, specifically to the countries of Oman and Yemen, and to the Horn of Africa, specifically Somalia).
Boswellia papyrifera, also known as the Sudanese frankincense, is a species of flowering plant and frankincense that is native to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. The tree is cultivated in Ethiopia because of its valuable resin. The incense is characterized by a fresh lemon-pine scent and is therefore highly esteemed. In Ethiopia where it is called itan zaf, it comes in semi-translucent yellow tears. The gum resin of Boswellia papyrifera coming from Ethiopia, Sudan and eastern Africa is believed to be the main source of frankincense of antiquity.
Boswellia ameero is a species of flowering plant in the Burseraceae family. It is endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen, common locally in arid, partly deciduous forests; however, populations are fragmentary, with aged, seldom regenerating trees being dominant. Also, the habitat of B. ameero may be degrading.
Boswellia nana is a species of plant in the Burseraceae family endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra. They are small trees or shrubs, sometimes so bent that they are lying nearly horizontal to the ground.
The Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert, also known as the Southwestern Arabian coastal xeric scrub, is desert ecoregion on the southern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, which experiences thick fogs where visibility may be reduced to 10 metres (33 ft). It is classed as an Afrotropical fog desert
Ochthochloa is a genus of desert plants in the grass family native to the Sahara and Arabian Deserts. The only known species is Ochthochloa compressa, whose native range extends from Algeria to Uttarakhand.
Friedrich August Flückiger was a Swiss pharmacist, chemist and botanist. He was born in Langenthal, canton of Bern, on 15 May 1828 and died on 11 December 1894.
Incensole is a C20 diterpene alcohol and biomarker for some plants of the Boswellia genus. It, along with its acetate ester incensole acetate, is an abundant component of frankincense, the resin collected from Boswellia trees. Incensole is used archaeologically to assist in identifying trade routes and distinguishing the identity of frankincense from other resins which may have been used together in incense and other salves. Incensole has also been deemed to be an active component in medicinal frankincense.
The Somali montane xeric shrublands is a desert and xeric scrubland ecoregion in Somalia. The ecoregion lies in the rugged Karkaar Mountains, which run parallel and close to Somalia's northern coast on the Gulf of Aden, and follows coast from Cape Guardafui south to Eyl on the Arabian Sea.
The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southern Arabian Peninsula, covering portions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman.
The South Arabian fog woodlands, shrublands, and dune is an ecoregion in Oman and Yemen. The fog woodlands lie on mountainsides which slope southeastwards towards the Arabian Sea. The mountains intercept moisture-bearing winds from the Arabian Sea, creating orographic precipitation and frequent fogs that sustain unique woodlands and shrublands in a desert region.
