Frankincense, also called Olibanum, frankincense [Credit: Gaius Cornelius] aromatic gum resin containing a volatile oil that was valued in ancient times in worship and as a medicine and is still an important incense resin. Frankincense is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia (family Burseraceae), and particularly from the varieties B. frereana, B. bhaw-dajiana, and B. carteri, which are found in Somalia, the Hadhramaut region of Yemen, and Oman. Incisions are made in the trunks of the trees, and the frankincense exudes as a milklike juice that hardens on exposure to air.
Sapindales, tangerine [Credit: Grant Heilman/EB Inc.] order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, containing 9 families, about 460 genera, and some 5,700 species of shrubs, woody vines, and trees. It includes the Citrus genus and other species important for their fruits.
More than half the species in Sapindales belong to two families: Sapindaceae (about 1,600 species) and Rutaceae (about 1,800 species). Most of the remaining species belong to four other well-known families: Anacardiaceae (about 600 species), Burseraceae (550 species), Meliaceae (621 species), and Simaroubaceae (95 species). The remaining three families (Biebersteiniaceae, Kirkiaceae, and Nitrariaceae) total 27 species.
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