Botanical and Common Names
- Boswellia sacra– South Arabia
- Boswellia bhaw-dajiana (older spelling Boswellia bhau-dajiana): Horn of Africa.
- Boswellia carteri (older spelling Boswellia carterii): Horn of Africa, Nubia.
- Boswellia serrata– India
- Boswellia papyrifera– Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan
- Boswellia frereana– Horn of Africa
Cautions
none listed
Description
The Boswellia dalzielii tree is usually found in the savannas of Western Africa, growing up to about 13 meters in height. It has small white fragrant flowers which bloom when the tree becomes leafless.
Description of the Bark: The tree is covered with pale papery-thin beige-colored bark that is naturally peeling and cracking off from the tree.
Description of the Leaves: The leaves of the tree sprout out in clumps from specific parts of the tree, not even distributed. The leaves are pale yellow to light green in color. The leaves are very thin, narrow, long blades are are lined on the outer perimeter in a saw-tooth like fashion.
Description of the Gum-resin: The gum resin tears that exude from the Boswellia dalzielii tree are whitish-yellow, sometimes with a greenish tint. The gum is very soft and not as sticky compared to other frankincense resins.
Key Actions
anti-neurotic
Key Components
The main component of frankincense is oil (60%). It contains mono- (13%) and diterpenes (40%) as well as ethyl acetate (21.4%), octyl acetate (13.4%) and methylanisole (7.6%). The highest biological activity among terpenes is characteristic of 11-keto-ß-acetyl-beta-boswellic acid, acetyl-11-keto-ß-boswellic acid and acetyl-α-boswellic acid.
Medicinal Parts
the resin of Boswellia Carterii and Boswellia serrata,
Traditional Uses
Boswellia serrata is a resinous tree native to India, North Africa, and the Middle East. The gummy oleoresin exuded from injured bark is known as salai guggul that has been used in the traditional medicine of India to treat pain and inflammation, particularly arthritic conditions. Boswellia serrata is also referred to as Indian frankincense to differentiate it from the related frankincense species.
Additional traditional uses for Boswellia include pain and arthritis; diarrhea and dysentery; ulcerative colitis and Chron’s disease; lung inflammation including bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; and pneumonia and heart disease patients. Boswellia is prepared into paste, plasters, skin washes, and ointments to use topically on wounds, skin fungus, acne, boils, leprosy, to repel insects, and treat tumors.