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Frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra)
Photo: Scott Zona from USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

On the map in 2 countries tree symbol: Oman

Frankincense tree

Boswellia sacra

Family: Burseraceae

On our map this plant appears in 2 countries and ranks highest in: Oman, Yemen.

The frankincense tree is a small tree or shrub growing to 5–8 m, often with several trunks branching just above the ground and peeling, papery bark. It has pinnate leaves clustered at the ends of the branches and tiny whitish flowers. A milky resin oozes from cuts in the bark and after a few weeks hardens into translucent lumps – olibanum, or frankincense. It grows on dry limestone slopes and in wadis, often rooted in rock crevices.

Description from: Oman.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl) Plants of the World Online (Kew)

Significance in each country

  1. Oman no. 1 of 8 native

    Symbol of Oman – the “Land of Frankincense” in Dhofar on the UNESCO list

    For millennia frankincense from Dhofar was a treasure exported along the Incense Route, and the ancient ports of Sumhuram and Al-Baleed are inscribed on the UNESCO list as the “Land of Frankincense”.

  2. Yemen no. 8 of 8 native

    The ancient kingdoms of southern Arabia – Saba, Hadramaut and Qataban – owed their wealth to the trade in frankincense and myrrh, sent by camel caravan to Egypt, the Levant and Rome.