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Every December has its difficult - to - find treasure — a toy or game that get the zeitgeist and flies off the shelves . In the retiring several geezerhood , one holiday symbol has become increasingly scarce : Frankincense , the original Christmas gift , the one that preceded them all . The redolent resin became embed in Christmas tradition when , accord to the Apostelic Father Matthew , the Biblical Magi brought gift of olibanum , gum myrrh , and amber to a Bethlehem nativity . Once abundant , thus is now threatened with near - extinction , as the trees that secrete the ancient resin have joined the outside Red List of Threatened Species . In the vacation custom , however , there is promise . Recently , botanists may have discovered the trick to sustainable harvesting , and increasing the tree ’s numbers .
Boswellia sacratrees in Dhofar , southerly province of the Sultanate of Oman . pic by : Helen Pickering / Kew .
Boswelliais a genus of 19 Tree that grow primarily in the Arabian Peninsula , East Africa , and India . Frankincense is derived from four specie , includingBoswellia sacra , the source of a peculiarly ok frankincense , and believe to be the tree diagram with Biblical ill fame . Frankincense is harvested by incising the tree trunks and take in the residue ( in this case , it egress milklike white ) , much like when harvesting maple syrup . The excreted rosin hardens and forms so - promise " tears . " These tears are the essence of frankincense and have been lauded by dissimilar cultures for thousands of years . The ancient Egyptians believed that frankincense split were the fret of Supreme Being condensing on earth . When the mythical Phoenix bird rose from the ash , it was say to have progress a nest from Boswellia sprig and feed on frankincense teardrop .
ABoswellia sacratree at Wadi Dowkah Natural Park ( Dhofar , Oman ) . Photos by : Mauro Raffaelli & Ben Norvell ( bottom odd ) .
Despite its farsighted history as a hallowed works , Boswelliatrees today are looking at a grim future . accord to a subject field publish in theJournal of Applied Ecology , the trees are threatened by various pressures that may deoxidise their routine by 90 percent in the next few decennium . unseasoned saplings are not surviving , Tree are seeding less oftentimes and with decreased viability . Over - harvesting is a factor , but so are predators and increase fires .
In 2012 , Leslie Townes Hope was found in a composition in theAnnals of Botany . By mapping the tree ’s anatomy , botanists from the Netherlands and Ethiopia discovered a new approach to tapping the trees , one that will yield more resin with less harm to the tree diagram . Motuma Tolera , an writer of the subject field , explains : " Tapping the tree create wounds in the stem that take resources to be healed , and more lesion create more chance for insects to set on the tree . It ’s not a surprisal that some trees perish . " When he and his colleagues divulge an intricate web of canals in the inner bark , they saw " an alternative to keep down the number of cuts , and slenderize the damage to the tree . "
Tolera says , " Our results suggest that tapping can become more efficient . A slash that lead deeply , earlier in the tapping wheel , may drain the resin more effectively . This opens raw ways for a more sustainable frankincense yield system . "
While botanists study the tree in Africa , horticulturalists in the United States can begin their own frankincense research . ANew York Timesarticleprofiles an Arizona - basedBoswelliacultivator who do to grow all 19 species of the genus .
