(66)

ARABIAN AND AFRICAN FRANKINCENSE TREES

By F. NIGEL HEPPERI
The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

THE oleo-gum-resin known as frankincense or olibanum has been obtained since

ancient times from several species of Bosuellias in the family Burseraceae. As the
botanical identity of the little-known frankincense trees occurring in Arabia and in
North-east Africa is becoming clearer this general account, which is backed by taxo-
nomic research, may be of interest to archaeologists and historians. There are still
gaps in our knowledge, however, and I hope attention will be focused on the puzzling
Arabian species. All Boswellia species are very variable in leaf shape and hairiness
and their classification presents difficulties. A similar degree of variation appears to
be exhibited by the resin itself.
By working on herbarium specimens it has been possible to verify their identity,
to extract relevant information from the field notes, and to plot the geographical
distribution of each species. Other important incense-yielding species grow in India
and Socotra, but these are not dealt with in this paper. The strictly taxonomic and
nomenclatural aspects will be covered in my revision of all the species of the genus
(in India, Arabia, Socotra, and Africa). A century ago both the historical and botanical
aspects were extensively dealt with by Birdwood.> Recently van Beek has also con-
sidered frankincense and myrrh and the ancient trade routes.'

Arabian frankincense
Boswellia trees grow only in a restricted portion of the southern Arabian coast in
Dhufar and eastern Hadramaut. Carter pointed outS that this frankincense region is
unique in southern Arabia in the amount of moisture it receives, and the resulting
plant growth makes it 'like a garden with a dreary arid waste on either side'. He described
the Nejdee (or Nejd) limestone hills with myriads of frankincense trees growing out
of crevices, and it was from there that the first quality incense was chiefly obtained
and exported from the towns lying between 52° 47' and 55° 23' E. Dr. Ray L. Cleveland,
who visited the area in 1958 and 1960, states that the trees are to be found in the high
I I should like to thank Dr. Ray Cleveland of the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, for his

valuable information on the Arabian species, and the American Society for the Study of Man for permission
to reproduce the photographs shown on pI. XII, 1 and 2, taken by Dr. Cleveland; also Mr. J. Lavranos of
Johannesburg for information on Arabian trees, Mr. Peter Bally of Geneva for permission to reproduce his
photographs, and Dr. D. M. Dixon of University College London for comments as an Egyptologist.
2. Named after John Boswell, uncle of James, the famous biographer of Samuel Johnson.

J G. Birdwood, 'On the genus Boswellia', in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 27 (1870), 111-48.
.. G. V. van Beck, 'Frankincense and myrrh', in Biblical Archaeologists 23 (3) (1960), 70-<)5.
5 H. J. Carter, 'Frankincense in Arabia', in Journ. Roy. Asiatic Soc., Bombay Br. 2 (1848),380-<)0.
 ARABIAN AND AFRICAN FRANKINCENSE TREES 67
dry steppe country known by the inhabitants as Najd (= Carter's Nejd) just north
of the Qarra Mountains lying parallel to the coast. The incense is locally called najdi
after the locality. Thomas also reported that 'negedi is the famous of the three' varieties
of incense known to him.' Mr. J. Lavranos, who saw the trees during the dry season
of 1966, tells me that he does not believe they are botanically distinct from the coastal
ones, but he agrees that the best resin is reported to come from the inland trees. This
may be due to ecological causes which may not be reflected in morphological varia-
tion. The only herbarium specimen of the inland tree I have seen is one collected by
Mr. Lavranos from a tree now growing in the Sultan's garden. One may compare the
photographs on pI. XII, I and 2, of the inland and coastal plain tree respectively.
Cleveland reported bark differences and he considered the inland one grew taller,
although this is not borne out by the photographs.
Second quality frankincense is known as shasri- originating in the same region of
Dhufar but I have not seen any specimens of the tree that yields this resin. Cleveland
informs me that najdi and shazri are the kinds of frankincense still principally exported
and there is a significant variation in price between the various grades. Collections of
leaves, flowers, and/or fruits, as well as correlated exudation from Arabian trees, are
badly needed to elucidate the problems that still remain.
The third quality already referred to is yielded by bushes known to the inhabitants
as sha'bis growing on the coastal plain, called Sahil- by Carter. He described this area
as being 'bounded on the east by the mountainous promontory of Ras Noos [= Ras
NUS]5 and on the west by that of Ras Sajar [= Ras Sajir]. The frankincense trees are
mostly congregated towards each extremity of it viz. about Marbat and in the neigh-
bourhood of Bandar Resoot [= Risut, bandar being Persian for port] where they are
found at the base and on the sides of the mountains, almost 5 miles from the shore,
and I believe they are also in a similar position near Hasek [= Hasik]. The quantity
of the frankincense bears no comparison with the myriads that are spread over the
Nejdee.'
Carter collected specimens at Rakheote [= Rakhyut] near Ras Sajar and sketched
a branch on May 30, 1846, which was published in his paper. My illustration (fig. I)
is adapted from his sketch. The rounded bushy habit is shown on pI. XII, 2, from
a photograph taken by Dr. Cleveland less than a mile from the coast. At first Carter
identified his plant with the Indian species (B. serrata Roxb. ex Coleb.) but later he
had doubts as to whether it really was the same species. Birdwood- thought it was
perhaps a form of an African tree which he named after Carter. Unfortunately as the
description is based on Playfair's material originating from Somalia the name, B. carteri,
must stay with the African species. Van Beek7 and others have applied it as well to
the Arabian one which is a distinct species and should be known as B. sacra. This
1 B. Thomas, Arabia Felix (London, 193 2), 377.
2 Ibid. 377.
3 Ibid. 123, 377; also Cleveland (personal communication).
• In the present spelling without diacritical marks, it may be taken as Arabic for 'plain' or 'coast',
5 The names in square brackets are those found on GSGS map no. 4802, sheet 4, 1 :500,000 (1957); see
the map on pI. XIV, 6 Birdwood, op. cit. 144. 7 Van Beek, op. cit. 71.
68 F. NIGEL HEPPER
name should apply at least to the coastal trees and, until any further evidence is available
to the contrary, the inland ones may bear it too.

FIG. I.Arabian frankincense tree, Boswellia sacra. Redrawn from

Carter, Journ. Roy. Asiatic Soc. Bombay Branch 2, 380

African frankincense
Beside the resiniferous species there are many other Boswellias in tropical Africa
which are either non-resinous or do not yield frankincense in sufficient quantity to
be exploited commercially. All the species occur in dry, rocky places and the resini-
ferous ones are to be found in the Horn of Africa. B. papyrijera, however, occurs
more widely (Ethiopia, Sudan Republic, Uganda, Central African Republic-see map
on pI. XV). At the present time it appears to be only a local source of incense and not
to be used to the same extent as the following species. In ancient times it may have
been important owing to the easy land routes from these parts of tropical Africa to
Egypt.
My evidence from herbarium material indicates that B. frereana yields first-quality
frankincense and the resin from B. carteri, although widely used, is inferior to it.
I. Boswellia sacra, the tree yielding najdi-frankincense, north of the Qarra 2. Boswellia sacra, the tree yielding sha'bi-frankincense, on the coastal plain near
Mountains, Dhufar. (American Foundation for the Study of Man) Ras Risut, Dhufar. (American Foundation for the Study of Man)

""'C
3. Boswellia papyrifera in woodland near l\lescillit Pass, Eritrea. (P.R.D., Bally) 4. Boswellia papyrifera: frankincense resin tears exuding after wounding of the [:
trunk, near Mescillit Pass, Eritrea. (P.R.D., Bally) @
FRA~KI~CENSE TREES ~
1--1
1--1
PLATE XIII

I. Boswellia carteri, showing tall habit of tree, near Erigavo,

Somalia. (P.R. a., Bally)

2. Boswellia carteri, detail showing swollen base of trunk growing on a boulder, near Erigavo,
Somalia. (P.R.a., Bally)

FRA~KINCE~SE TREES
 ARABIAN AND AFRICAN FRANKINCENSE TREES 69
A third tree known as B. bhau-dajiana is also resiniferous but it remains inadequately
known and it may not be a really distinct species.
There is an excellent eyewitness description of B. frereana by the nineteenth-century
traveller Kempthorne in a journal which is not readily available and is worth quoting
extensively. 1 He says:
[The tree is] one of the most extraordinary plants I ever saw, quite a lusus naturae of the vegetable
world, for the trees actually grow out of the sides of the almost polished rocks.... The trees were
about 40 feet high,» the stem was about 2 feet in circumference, rising straight up, with a bend
outwards of 6 or 7 inches. They are attached most firmly to the rocks by a thick oval mass of sub-
stance about a foot or so in diameter, something resembling a mixture of lime and mortar. Branches
spring out rather scantily at the top and extend a few feet down the stem; the leaves are 5 inches
or so long, and I! in. broad, narrowing and rounding towards the point, but not serrated at the
edges; the upper surface is of a rich dark shining green, while the lower is of a lighter hue; they
are thin and smooth and crimped like that beautiful species of seaweed so often found on the coast
of England. The tree has four layers of bark, the outer being coarse and loose, like that of the beech,
while the next two are as it were glued to the trunk and delicately fine, resembling oiled paper or
gold-beaters' skin and of a bright amber colour; this bark is perfectly transparent, and can be
stripped off easily in large sheets; the natives use it for writing on; the inner bark of all is an inch
or so in thickness, adhering closely to the stem; it is tough, not unlike leather, and striped red and
white, and yields a strong aromatic perfume. The timber is white, soft, porous and of little use,
except as firewood. A deep incision into the bark causes the odoriferous gum to exude in large
quantities, which is of a milky white, and of the consistency of honey, but it soon hardens by ex-
posure to the atmosphere.

The curious swollen base of the trunk described by Kempthorne is referred to by

all recent botanists (e.g, Bally, Gillett) who have collected specimens of this species.
The swelling does not appear to be present in the other species except B. carteri
(pI. XIII, 2) and it is doubtless an adaptation to this habitat, conferring on the trees the
ability to cling more successfully to a rocky position. The limestone region of Somalia
to which these species are restricted is extremely arid with rain during only a short
period of the year, and it is a puzzle how the seedling frankincense manages to gain
a root-hold before it dries up. The cleft must be moist enough at some season of the
year to support the germinated seed while the roots grow down into the protective
rock far enough to withstand the first long period of drought. Guidotti! rightly observes
that for some time the young plant has a precarious existence before enlarging its roots
sufficiently to become thoroughly established.
It may have been this region that was known as the land of Punt by the ancient
Egyptians. Hatshepsut sent an expedition to Punt to obtain living rntyw trees.s B.
frereana grows in the coastal region of Somalia, unlike B. carteri which inhabits the
I G. B. Kempthome, 'A narrative of a visit to the ruins of Tahrie, the supposed site of the ancient city of

Siraff, also an account of the ancient commerce of the Gulf of Persia etc.' in Trans. Bombay Geog. Soc. 13
( 1857), 125-40. Part of p, 136 is also quoted by Birdwood, op, cit. 147.
2 Recently collected specimens in Kew Herbarium were obtained from trees about 15 or up to 25 ft. in

height. This may indicate that only younger trees are seen nowadays.
3 Quoted in F. N. Howes, Vegetable Gums and Resins (Chronica Botanica Co., New York, 1949), 152.
.. F. N. Hepper, 'An ancient expedition to transplant live trees', in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. 92 (1967), 435-8.
70 F. NIGEL HEPPER
hinterland at an altitude of up to 3,600 ft. It is most likely to be B. frereana, or the little
known B. bhau-dajiana, that would have been encountered if Punt is identifiable as
Somalia. On the other hand the extraction of the swollen base of the trunk from the
rock might have badly damaged the tree but it is possible they may have re-rooted

FIG. 2. African frankincense tree Boswellia frereana. Redrawn from

Fitsch's figure in Birdwood, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 27, t. 32

(see below). The reliefs at Deir el-Bahri depicting the expedition show a red aromatic
substance close to the trees and some scholars therefore believe that they are myrrh
trees (Commiphora sp.). Against this conclusion is the leafy appearance of the trees
on the reliefs, which much more closely resemble Boswellia than scraggy Commiphora,
although there are differences of opinion as to how much significance may be attached
to the representation. I It may be noted that the frankincense trees occurring in Dhufar
grow out of the ground as well as from crevices; if this was the species transported
to Egypt it would indicate a different location for Punt.
I For further consideration of these matters see the paper by D. M. Dixon, pp. SS ff. above.
 .... ....
Scale
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:\IAP OF XORTH-EAST AFRICA

 ARABIAN AND AFRICAN FRANKINCENSE TREES
Extraction and collection of frankincense
An interesting description of the process was published by Surgeon Carter I relating
to the Arabian trees:
The gum is provided by making longitudinal incisions through the bark in the months of May
and December, when the cuticle glisters with intumescence from the distended state of the parts
beneathj- the operation is simple and requires no skill on the part of the operator. On its first
appearance the gum comes forth white as milk, and according to its degree of fluidity, finds its
way to the ground, or concretes on the branch near the place from which it first issued, from
whence it is collected by men and boys, employed to look after the trees by different families who
possess the land in which they grow.
The photograph on pI. XII, 4, shows how the gum exudes from the wound and forms
clear white tears. Various other descriptions of the extraction have been published in
works that are readily available.

Cultivation
In conclusion a comment should be made about the cultivation of Boswellia. Since
the time of Theophrastus many authors have mentioned the cultivation of incense
trees in Arabia, and others have suggested the possibility in Africa. In recent times,
however, only odd trees are known to have been grown and there is no evidence that
they are planted in any quantity for exploitation. During the nineteenth century
Carter established the Arabian B. sacra in the Victoria Gardens, Bombay, from
'rooted sterns's! Also in Bombay grew plants of the African B. carteri obtained from
cuttings of the tree planted in Playfair's rocky garden at Aden, where he grew B.
frereana as well. More recently a tree of B. carteri was reported from a garden at
Berbera, Somalia, and another of B. sacra still grows in the Sultan's Garden at Salala,
Dhufar.
There is little doubt that the stem of at least some species of Boswellia will take
root. I have myself seen in Northern Nigeria B. dalzielii being used for stockades
where poles inserted in the ground take root as readily as Commiphora. This charac-
teristic has a bearing on the ability of the trees to establish themselves in artificial
conditions, since the Punt expeditions brought back living specimens for this very
purpose. Even if the trees really did grow at Thebes there is always the possibility
that they did not yield resin, since it is unlikely that tropical species would thrive at
the higher latitude.

Botanical and vernacular names of frankincense trees and their resin

The following vernacular names have been extracted from labels of herbarium speci-
mens at Kew and the British Museum (Nat. Hist.). The identity of the specimens has
been checked by me and although some variation in the spellings and even anomalies
in the vernacular names appear to exist, they are included for the sake of completeness.
lap. cit. 384.
2 Perhaps Carter as a surgeon was applying medical terminology to his botanical description.
3 Birdwood, op. cit. 144.
72 F. NIGEL HEPPER
A few names from literature are also given when they are quite unambiguous. The dis-
tribution of each species is given on the map on pI. XIV.
I. Boswellia sacra Flueckiger in Lehrbuch der Phannakognosie des Pflanzenreiches
31 (1867). Type: Arabia Carter (fig. in Journ. Roy. Asiatic Soc., Bombay Br. 2
(1848), 380).
B. carteri var. undulato-crenata EngI. in DC., Monogr. Phan. 4 (1883), 33 excl.
Hildebrandt 1381.
B. undulato-crenata (EngI.) Engl. in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 19a:
422 (1931).
[B. thurifera sensu Carter in Journ. Roy. Asiatic Soc., Bombay Br. 2 (1848), 380,
non Roxb. ex Flem.]
[B. carteri sensu Birdwood in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 27, 144, pro parte quoad
spec. Arab. et t. 30.]
Arabia: Maghrayt d' sheehaz-the tree: Sheehaz-the resin (Carter, op. cit.,
quotes Mahara names); Sha'bi-the resin (Cleveland, see discussion above);
Sha'bi or somali (Thomas, op. cit.); Lubban (Vesey-Fitzgerald 12630, 12705/1).
Other Arabian names apparently not relating to coastal B. sacra: Najdi-first
quality resin (Cleveland); Negedi or nejdi-'the famous tree' (Thomas, op. cit.):
Shazari-'the tree of mughur' yielding inferior quality resin (Thomas, op. cit.),
2. B. frereana Birdwood in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 27 (1870), 146, t. 32. Type:
Somalia Playfair s.n. (K).
Somalia: Yigaar-the tree; Maidi-the resin (Collenette 2°5); Yegaar or Luban
maitee (Playfair s.n.); Jegaar (Birdwood 3); Luban maiti (Birdwood 10/1873);
Maidi (Peck I, 2, Hemming 1778); Mohor medu (Glover and Gilliland 719); Yagar-
the tree; Maidi-the resin (Glover and Gilliland 756); Mohor ad [probably wrong]
(Glover and Gilliland 708); Yagar (Glover and Gilliland 896).
3. B. carteri Birdwood, op. cit. 143, t. 29, excl. spec. ex Arabia. Syntypes: Somalia
and Aden (cult.) Playfair s.n. (K).
B. carteri var. subintegra Engl. in DC., Monogr. Phan. 4 (1883), 34.
Somalia: Mohr Madow (Playfair s.n.); Mohor lub (Glover and Gilliland 937);
Medi (Gillett 4662); Mohr meddu (rneddu = white) (Hildebrandt 1381). Mohr
add (Birdwood 2); Beio (Howes, op. cit.)).
4. B. bhau-dajiana Birdwood in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 27 (1870), 144, t. 31. Type:
Somalia Playfair 3 (BM, K). An imperfectly known species.
Somalia: Mohr add-the tree, Luban Bedowi or Luban sheheri (of Arabs)-
the resin (Playfair 3); Mohor (Hemming 1798).
5. B. papyrifera (Del.) Hochst. in Flora 26 (1843), 81. Type: Sudan Caillaud s.n.
Sudan: Targ tarag-Arabic (Patel and El Kheir 84); Durto-Fur, Rut rut-
Arabic (Wickens 1293); Tak tak-Eliri Arabic (Simpson 7766, 7773); Luban-
Arabic (Aylmer 18, Cooke 96); Lanya-Latuka (Andrews A. 1814); Sumr, Tarag,
Tarag tarag, Tarak tarak-Arabic (Wickens, Kordofan Vernac. Names (1963), 19).