Author:
Qjure
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
3-655.41.00
Burseraceae
English: Torchwood family; Frankincense family; Myrrh family; Incense tree family.
Genera: ± 18 genera; ± 700 species.
Region: pantropical.
Content: biflavonoids; aromatic, fragant resins!.
DD: Bromum.
Culture: book The Constant Gardener, John le Carré.
Use: resin for incense in rituals, mummification; timber; food; cosmetics; medicinal, Chinese medicine, Ayruveda.
Botany
Woody shrubs, trees.
Stem: bark thin, smooth, thick and fissured, papery, exfoliating; resin colorless or yellow, slowly turning into black or white.
Leaves: alternate; spiral; compound, imparipinnate; exstipulate; pulvines in leaflets.
Inflorescence: panicle, spike; axillary.
Flowers: unisexual or bisexual; sepals 3 to 5, partly united; petals 3 to 5; stamens 6 to 10; ovary superior, 3 to 5 carpels; 2 ovules per locule; disk interstitial.
Fruit: drupe or psedocapsule; 1 seed per locule.
DD Anacardiaceae: have black resin, allergenic; stipulate; lack pulvines in leaflets; stamens 5 to 10; 1 ovule per locule.
DD Meliaceae: stamens fused; lack resin; fruit is a capsule.
Taxonomy
Burseraceae is one of the main Families in the Sapindales in the Apg3 classification.
Plant theory
In the first version of the Plant theory Burseraceae was placed in Subphase 3. In the last version it is placed in Subphase 1. This repositioning was done mainly on two grounds. First from phylogenetic grounds as the placement in Subphase 3 made the subfamilies of Rutaceae split apart in the Subpase 1, 2 4, and 5.
The second reason is that an essential theme in Commiphora and Bursera is the feeling of beinbg alone and the the strong fear of being left alone. That fits better Subphase 1.
Literature
Cole, Theodor; Burseraceae Phylogeny Poster, February 2019; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309727080 Burseraceae Phylogeny Poster.