BOSWELLIA SERRATA- OLIBANUM-YIELDING BOSWELLIA 
Class X. DECANDRIA.— Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, BURSERACEdE. 
It was formerly conjectured, on the authority of Linneeus, that the Olibanum of commerce was the product 
of the Juniperus Lycia, but this opinion appears to be erroneous ; for this species of Juniper is a native of 
the south of France, and the French botanists deny that it yields the resinous gum in question. It is now 
generally supposed that it is the product of different trees ; Lamarck ascribing it to the Amyris gileadensis ; 
Forskal and Sprengel to the Amyris fcafa/, a while Mr. Colebrooke has satisfactorily proved that the Bos- 
wellia serrata affords that which comes from India. 
This species of Boswellia, so named by Dr. Roxburgh in memory of the late Dr. John Boswell, of 
Edinburgh, is indigenous to the mountains of Central India, where it is known under the vulgar name of 
Sali. It is a lofty tree, with the foliage crowded at the extremities of the branches ; and is frequent in the 
forests between the Sone and Nagpur, on the route to Berar. The leaves are pinnate, consisting of about 
ten pairs of obliquely ovate-oblong, obtuse, serrated, villous leaflets, with a terminal one, about an inch and 
a half in length, sometimes opposite, sometimes alternate, and supported on short, round, downy petioles. 
The flowers, which are produced in simple axillary racemes, shorter than the leaves, are numerous, small, of 
a pale pink colour, accompanied with minute bracteas. The calyx is monophyllous, 5-toothed and downy ; 
the corolla consists of five oblong, spreading petals, downy on the outside, and considerably larger than the 
stamens. The nectary is a fleshy, crenate ring, surrounding the lower two-thirds of the germen. The fila- 
ments are ten, alternately shorter, inserted on the exterior margin of the nectary, and supporting oblong 
anthers. The germen is superior, ovate, with a cylindrical style, and 3-lobed stigma. The capsule is oblong, 
triangular, smooth, 3-celled and 3-valved, each cell containing a single seed, which is broad-cordate at the 
base, deeply emarginate, with a long and slender point. 
Olibanum is chiefly collected in India ; but it is also imported in casks and chests from the Levant. 
It distils from incisions made in the bark of the tree, during the summer months. It is the frankincense of 
the ancients, the thus of the Romans, and the Aifiavcc, of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. The latter writer 
mentions it as procured from India ; and Theophrastus, Hist. PL lib. ix. c. 4, says Tiverai p.ev ow 6 \ipavo<; ev vq 
tiov Apaficov x a p a /**<’"'! Kepi rov 2a(3a kou Alpapma, kcu Kna.Bce.iva.. The same observation is made by Strabo, 1. xvi. 
p. 778 ; Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. vi. c. 28 ; and Virgil, Geor. i. v. 58. 
The burning of incense made part of the daily service of the ancient Jewish church. The priests drew 
lots to know who should offer it. The destined person then took a large silver dish, in which was a censor 
full of incense, and being accompanied by another priest carrying some live coals from the altar, went into 
a Forsk. Descrip. Plant, cent. iii. p. 80. 
