On a starlit night long ago, the story goes, three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus: gold, myrrh and frankincense. Both frankincense and myrrh are tree resins, but they’re produced by trees of different species.
Frankincense comes from Boswellia trees, with yellow sap. Myrrh comes from Commiphora trees that make reddish-brown resins.
The trees grow in dry rocky woodlands of North Africa and India. Harvesters make small cuts in the bark and collect the hardened sap.
For thousands of years, both have been used in incense, perfume and traditional medicine. They’re among the world’s oldest trade goods.
Today, thousands of tons are traded each year for religious rituals, perfumes and the booming essential-oil markets — an industry worth billions.
This growing demand is putting pressure on their sources. Trees are being tapped too often, and it’s harder to grow new trees because of grazing and wildfires. Accurate population studies are difficult because the trees grow in remote regions that are prone to political conflicts.
Experts say the solutions are to let trees rest, protect young plants, manage fires and grow them in plantations to take pressure off wild forests.
Those long-ago wise men probably weren’t concerned about over-harvesting. But today, we can choose responsibly sourced products to help safeguard these ancient trees for the future.
