The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s in the

frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus '' Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species ...

and

myrrh Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus '' Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh m ...

family,

Burseraceae The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also k ...

. The genus contains approximately 190 species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

s and

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s, which are distributed throughout the (sub-) tropical regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the western Indian Ocean islands, the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

.Weeks, A. and Simpson, B.B. 2007. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Commiphora (Burseraceae) yields insight on the evolution and historical biogeography of an “impossible” genus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42:62–79. The genus is drought-tolerant and common throughout the

xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or t ...

scrub, seasonally dry tropical forests, and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s of these regions. The common name

refers to several species of the genus, from which aromatic resins are derived for various fragrance and medicinal uses by humans.

Description

Leaves in ''Commiphora'' are pinnately compound (or very rarely unifoliolate). Many species are armed with spines.

Bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, e ...

is often

exfoliating Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin cells and built-up dirt from the skin's surface. The term comes from the Latin word ''exfoliare'' (to strip off leaves). This is a regular practice within the cosmetic industry, both for its outcome of pro ...

, peeling in thin sheets to reveal colorful, sometimes

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in ...

, bark below.

Stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

s are frequently

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

, especially in species native to drier environments. Flowers are typically dioecious ( subdioecious) and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

s are

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel ...

s, usually with a 2-locular

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

(one is abortive). In response to wounding, the stems of many species will exude aromatic

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on nat ...

Ecology and biogeography

''Commiphora'' can serve as a model genus for understanding plant evolution in the drier regions of the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...

tropics, particularly in eastern continental Africa and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

, where diversity in the genus is concentrated. The closely related sister genus to ''Commiphora'', ''

Bursera ''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Uni ...

'', has been used as a model genus to study patterns of evolution in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

seasonally dry tropical forests.

Use by humans

Products from many species of ''Commiphora'' have been used for various purposes, sometimes as timber, building material, and natural fencing, but more often valued for the aromatic

s produced by several members of the genus. "

Myrrh Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus '' Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh m ...

", the common name for these dried resins, is fragrant and has been used both as fragrance and for medicinal purposes (e.g.,

Balsam of Mecca Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression stems from William Tyndale's language in the King James Bible of 1611, and ha ...

, ''C. gileadensis''). Use of myrrh resin is frequent and pronounced throughout historical texts of cultural significance, including the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

Systematics and taxonomy

Recent studies using

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. T ...

data have confirmed the

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

of ''Commiphora''; however, this data suggests that previous classification of the genus into sections does not reflect monophyletic interspecific relationships.

Species

Species include: * '' Commiphora africana'' (A.Rich.) Engl. (syn. ''Heudelotia africana''), sometimes identified with ancient

bdellium Bdellium (also bdellion or false myrrh) is a semi-transparent oleo-gum resin extracted from ''Commiphora wightii'' plants of India, and from ''Commiphora africana'' trees growing in sub-saharan Africa. According to Pliny the best quality came f ...

. Used indirectly by the San bushmen to poison their arrow tips for hunting * '' Commiphora alaticaulis'' J.B.Gillett & Vollesen * '' Commiphora angolensis'' Engl., also known as "sand commiphora", growing mainly in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

* '' Commiphora aprevalii'' Guillaumin, endemic to

* '' Commiphora boranensis'' Vollesen * '' Commiphora caudata'' (Wight & Arn.) Engl. * '' Commiphora ciliata'' Vollesen * '' Commiphora confusa'' Vollesen * '' Commiphora corrugata'' J.B.Gillett & Vollesen * '' Commiphora erosa'' Vollesen * '' Commiphora gileadensis'' (L.) C.Chr. (syn. ''Commiphora opobalsamum''), producing

balsam of Mecca Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression stems from William Tyndale's language in the King James Bible of 1611, and ha ...

. * '' Commiphora glandulosa'' Schinz * '' Commiphora guidottii'' Chiov. ex Guid. (syn. ''Commiphora sessiliflora''), producing ''habak hadi'', known as

bisabol Opopanax is the commercial name of ''bisabol'' or ''bissabol'', the fragrant oleo-gum-resin of ''Commiphora guidottii''. It has been a major export article from Somalia since ancient times, and is called ''hebbakhade'', ''habaghadi'' or ''habak h ...

opoponax Opopanax is the commercial name of ''bisabol'' or ''bissabol'', the fragrant oleo- gum-resin of '' Commiphora guidottii''. It has been a major export article from Somalia since ancient times, and is called ''hebbakhade'', ''habaghadi'' or ''habak ...

, scented or sweet myrrh. * '' Commiphora guillauminii'' H.Perrier * '' Commiphora habessinica'' (O.Berg) Engl. * '' Commiphora harveyi'' (Engl.) Engl. * '' Commiphora humbertii'' H.Perrier * ''

Commiphora kataf ''Commiphora kataf'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Burseraceae, native to northeastern and eastern tropical Africa, and the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. A relative of myrrh Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymol ...

'' (Forssk.) Engl.(syn. ''

Commiphora holtziana The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the ...

'' Engl, ''

Commiphora erythraea The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the ...

'' (Ehrenb.) Engl.), producing ''habak hagar'', known as sweet myrrh, sometimes sold as opoponax. * '' Commiphora kua'' ( R.Br. ex

Royle Royle is a surname. The surname may derive from Ryal in Northumberland, England. People: * Amanda Royle (born 1962), English actress, second daughter of Derek Royle * Adrian Royle (born 1959), retired English long distance runner * Anthony Ro ...

) Vollesen * '' Commiphora leptophloeos'' (Mart.) J.B.Gillett, the only species of ''Commiphora'' present in the Americas. * '' Commiphora madagascariensis'' Jacq. * '' Commiphora monoica'' Vollesen * ''

Commiphora mafaidoha The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughou ...

'' * '' Commiphora mossambicensis'' (Oliv.) Engl. * ''

Commiphora myrrha The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the ...

'' (Nees) Engl. (syn. ''Commiphora molmol''), producing

. * '' Commiphora saxicola'' Engl., Rock corkwood, a shrub endemic to Namibia * '' Commiphora schimperi'' (O.Bergman) Engl. * '' Commiphora simplicifolia'' H.Perrier * '' Commiphora sphaerocarpa'' Chiov * '' Commiphora stocksiana'' (Engl.) Engl., known in Pakistan as ''bayisa gugal'' * '' Commiphora unilobata'' J.B.Gillett & Vollesen * ''

Commiphora wightii ''Commiphora wightii'', with common names Indian bdellium-tree, gugal, guggul, gugul, or mukul myrrh tree, is a flowering plant in the family Burseraceae, which produces a fragrant resin called gugal, guggul or gugul, that is used in incense a ...

'' (Arn.) Bhandari (syn. ''Commiphora mukul''), producing gum guggul, sometimes identified with ancient

Gallery

File:Commiphora simplicifolia 02.jpg, '' Commiphora simplicifolia'' File:Commiphora simplicifolia 01.jpg, ''Commiphora simplicifolia''

References

External links

Flora of Pakistan: ''Commiphora''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1648255 Burseraceae genera Dioecious plants