Boswellia sacra
Boswellia sacra | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Burseraceae |
Genus: | Boswellia |
Species: | B. sacra
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Binomial name | |
Boswellia sacra | |
Synonyms[4] | |
Boswellia sacra, also known as Boswellia carteri and others, and commonly called the frankincense tree or the olibanum tree, is a tree in the genus Boswellia, in the Burseraceae family, from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested.[5] The olibanum tree is plant native to the countries of Oman and Yemen, in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, and to Somalia, in the Horn of Africa.[5]
Description
The Boswellia sacra species is a small
Occurrence and habitat
B. sacra tolerates the most critical situations and often grows on rocky slopes and ravines, up to an elevation of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), mostly in
In Somalia, frankincense is harvested in mainly
In
Resin
The trees start producing resin when they are about 8 to 10 years old.[8]
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, in the desert region of the Najd, 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.[citation needed] 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.[9][failed verification]
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 plant had once been a mortal woman named Leucothoe. The Sun god Helios fell in love with her, and left his previous lover Clytie. In bitterness, Clytie gossiped to 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, turned her into a new tree so that she could still breathe air.[10]
In Christian culture, it is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew that Magi that came to worship Jesus of Nazareth as a child brought gifts: gold, myrrh and frankincense. It is said that the inclusion of frankincense, also called olibanum, was to symbolise the divinity of Jesus.
Gallery
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Boswellia sacra illustration
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Boswellia sacra inside Biosphere 2
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Boswellia Frereana resin, not Boswellia Sacra
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ Boswellia sacra was originally described and published in Lehrbuch der Pharmakognosie des Pflanzenreiches. 31. 1867. (as cited in Flückiger & Hanbury's Pharmacographia). Freidrich A. Flückiger; Daniel Hanbury, F.R.S. (1874). Pharmacographia, a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 120. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
Lehrbuch der pharmakognosie Flückiger Boswellia sacra.
- ^ "Boswellia sacra Flueck.". World Flora Online. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
- ^ a b "Boswellia sacra". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
- ISBN 1874209049.
- ^ Patinkin, Jason (25 December 2016). "World's last wild frankincense forests are under threat". Yahoo Finance. Associated Press. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
- ^ "Omani World Heritage Sites". www.omanwhs.gov.om. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
- .
- ISBN 9780415186360.