Herb. No. 162 · Burseraceae
Horn of Africa and southern Arabian thorn-scrub. Commiphora country.
Native · Africa · West Asia
Native Also grown
LegalCautionplant
Myrrh
Commiphora myrrha
The other temple resin — a thorny Somali and Arabian shrub whose bitter gum is incense, a mouthwash, and a nativity prop.
Myrrh is the oleoresin of Commiphora, a thorny desert genus. Traditional use is as incense, a bitter mouth rinse, and an old wound powder. Internal daily tea is not the modern path. Buy resin; do not wild-gouge a slow shrub. This plate is incense and a gargle, not a tonic cup.
Flavor
Bitter, medicinal, a little mushroom-earth. The smell of a sacristy.
Parts used
Dried resin
Helpful
- A real resin tradition
Cautions
- Bitter beyond polite
- Not a garden shrub in the temperate north
- Pregnancy caution internally