Where Frankincense Grows – India, Ethiopia & Puntland

Most people haven’t seen a frankincense tree. We described in a previous blog, “Exotic Frankincense from Puntland,” how Lotus Spring frankincense is harvested, sorted, shipped, and distilled. Here are your geography and botany lessons on where frankincense grows so that, by comparison, you can see that our Puntland frankincense source is the best!

All Indian frankincense trees grow in the wild; none of them are cultivated. The resin that comes from these trees has been collected by local villagers and farmers for thousands of years. This frankincense from India has become quite popular for its extracted Boswellia powder, commonly marketed as an anti-inflammatory for joints. Most Boswellia serrata frankincense gum-resin is used to produce Boswellia powder through a chemical extraction process.

The forests of Ethiopian frankincense trees are all wild. These are the most abundant frankincense trees in the world. Papyrifera frankincense gum-resin is collected by local villagers. As much as 17,000 tons of gum-resin are collected each year from Ethiopian frankincense trees, making it the highest volume frankincense. There are sufficient papyrifera trees to produce 100,000 tons of resin each year. Because of the high supply of papyrifera frankincense resin it is also the least expensive and least valued.

Most of this papyrifera resin is relabeled as “Boswellia carterii” to create a higher market value. Much of the frankincense essential oil on the market contains some blend of Ethiopian frankincense. Many “frankincense blend” essential oils contain mostly inexpensive Ethiopian frankincense which creates a less desirable product. The frankincense essential oil you’ve been using very likely contains papyrifera frankincense.

Lotus Spring Essential Oil frankincense comes from Puntland. Every carterii tree in the upper hills of Puntland (and Somaliland) grows wild. The monsoon rains and cloud mists keep these Puntland frankincense trees thriving. Local tribesmen collect the gum-resin twice each year. They collect about 1700 tons of carterii frankincense gum-resin per year. The harvesting of Puntland frankincense has been a tribal tradition for 5000 years. Boswellia carterii frankincense was valued by the Egyptians for its medicinal qualities and its rich aroma and health benefits have made it the standard in aromatherapy.

The increasing demand for carterii frankincense essential oil has pushed up the gum-resin price more than 10-fold in the last 5 years. Therefore, 100% single-species carterii frankincense is expensive. As an introductory courtesy, we have kept the initial price affordable so that more people can experience this 100% pure carterii frankincense oil.

We choose Puntland frankincense because we can be certain of its single-species identity from harvest in the mountains, camel caravan-to-warehouse transport, sorting, labeling, shipping, and hydro-distillation. When you experience it for yourself you will agree that Lotus Spring frankincense essential oil is a premier product as a result of our careful Earth Natural™ sourcing process.