140 



BURSERACE^. 



MYRRHA. 



Gummi-resina Myrrha; Myrrh; F. Myrrhe; G. Myrrhe. 



Botanical Origin— Ehrenberg who visited Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia 

 and Arabia in the years 1820-26, brought home with him specimens of 

 the myrrh trees found at Ghizan (Gison or Dhizan), a town on the strip 

 of coast-region called Tihama, opposite the islands of Farsan Kebir and 

 Farsan Seghir, and a little to the north of Lohaia, on the eastern side 

 of the Red Sea, in latitude 16° 40', and also on the neighbouring 

 mountains of Djara (or Shahra) and Kara. Here the myrrh trees form 

 the underwood of the forests of Acacia, Moringa, and Euphorbia. 

 Nees von Esenbeck who examined these specimens, drew up from them 

 a description of what he called Balsamodenclron MyrrJia, which lie 

 figured in 1828.' ^ , 



After Ehrenberg's herbarium had been incorporated in the Roja 

 Herbarium of Berlin, Berg examined these specimens, and came to the 

 conclusion that they consist of tivo sjyecies, namely that described ami 

 figured by Nees, and a second to which was attached {correctly we must 

 hope) two memoranda bearing the following words :— " fysa fJ^r^ 

 arbor ad Gison ,~M avtio ;' and " Ex Jiuic simillima arhore ad wso 

 ipse Myrrkam effiuentem Icgi? Hoic specimina lecta sunt in mmtimi^ 

 Djara et Kara Februario." This plant Berg named B. Ehrenhergianm. 

 Oliver in his Flora of Tropical Africa (1868)' is disposed to consiae 

 Berg's plant the same as B. Opohalsamun Kth., a tree or shrub }iei 

 „ „.Trh, found by Schweinfurth on the Bisharrin mountxams 

 Abyssinia, not far from the coast between Suakin and Ednieb. d 

 Schwehifurth himself does not admit the identity of the two pian^j^ 

 It IS certain, however, that the mvrrh of commerce is chiefly oi Axr 



my ni\ 



ongm. 



in F. M. Hunter, Assistant Resident of Aden, mformect 

 Arabian myrrh tree, the DidtJdn, is found not only in 

 provinces of Arabia. Yemen, and Hadramant, probably au 



6 



the 



uie soutnern part ot Oman, but likewise on the range o^ ^^^'^ ^" ^alis 

 on the African shore, runs parallel to the Somali coast, ^i;?,,^";, >' is 

 who gather the myrrh in Ai-abia allege that the Arabian "V,Z true 

 Identical with that of their own district. Its exudation is tne ^_^_ 

 'h, "Mulmul" of fbp Snmn1i« fl.a « AAr^" nf the Arabs, or ii'^ 



hole 



Oga( 



Indians. 



myrrh tree, accor diner to Captain Hunter 



in2 5n 



am ana the districts round Harrar, that is between ^^^ ■ , |- 

 10th parallels, N. lat., and 43° to 50° E. long. This is the " Hf 'f ''^^ , 

 of the Somalis, which is not found in Arabia, nor in the coast raii=, 



(18/)tlr35l"^''""'''' Daaseklorf, ii. 



f^ V?"" ""Pp^yi^g i» 1872 to rrof. Khrcnber 

 «^. t?U '* '^''". P«^^i^^« that we coulk 

 ati3w er that it could not he f ou nd. 



tierg u. Schmidt, Darstelluno u. Be- 

 t2.'''S •/ • r-^t ^^^"^•^-' iv. i863) 



1868. 



127. 



Jetrmfnn, Oeorjr. mtJ>eimc^' ^ 

 « Letters addressed in 18J7 *° J; „{ ibe 



myrrh in the Egyptian an iqu tJ . 



beVg, De. Myrrlm et Op?camsi -^^^ 

 detectis plantis, Berohm, l»«^' 



