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herbologist

Frankincense

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Wondering if plants are available in Australia? Found a few US sites that sell plants but couldn't seem to track down any au sources...

Would like to grow one if so, anyone know where I could get one?

Here is some info :

Frankincense Tree

Scientific Name: Boswellia sacra Flueck.

Synonym: Boswellia undulato-crenata, Boswellia carteri

Family: Burseraceae

Frankincense Tree (Boswellia sacra)

Recommended Temperature Zone:

USDA: 10-12

Frost Tolerance: Avoid any frost

Heat Tolerance: Excellent

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Origin: Lower elevations of northern Somalia, southwestern Oman, southern Yemen

Growth Habits: Fragrant tree, up to 25 feet tall (7.5 m)

Watering Needs:

Propagation: Seeds (with low germination rates), cuttings

Thanks

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yeah I've had a similar interest actually..I'm kinda looking for a collection of fragrant trees to collect for different incense and oils. Frankincense sounds like it will happily tolerate most coastal spots around Oz. I'll have a look for this one and others and let you know Salem.

H.

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the resin is pretty easy to get here it is used in chinese medicine and is really cheap if you look up its pinyin name and take that into the herbalist you should get a fair bit for pretty good price, but thats not the plant, i make a good perfume with frankincense as a base.

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Cheers Hunab, that would be sweet.

I usually get the resin from an incense shop around the way from work, also got an oil from there that is great in an oil burner. There is a Chinese herbalist near there too, Ill have to give them a go. (Ru Xiang in pinyin)

Most of my yard is a fragrant herb garden, I have been using frankincense incenses for years and figured it would be nice to have it out in the yard as well.

A few others I was chasing but found were ( Just in case they're on your list Hunab )

Cinnamon Cinnamomum zeylandicum ... From here

Ylang Ylang Cananga odorata ... As above

Clove Syzgium aromaticum ... From here

Wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens ... As above

Both of those sites have heaps more than enough fairly hard to find fragrant herbs to start anyones smelly garden

Edited by salem13

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:lol:

Speaking of fragrent plants, i'm wondering if anyone has any vanilla seeds/seedlings they would like to sell/trade? Been doing a bit of reading and turns out they're actually somewhat of a parasite, as they grow on large shrubs and small trees. But i've got a perfect host i think could help in producing a lot of seed pods.

Anyway, if anyone has any i'd love to scab some off you!

cheers

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Hey peaceful they're not a parasite, they're an epiphyte, they just use the trees for support, they don't harm them at all. They're also fairly tropical, so might not like it outside in Vic. unless you have a house for them, or can grow viridis or something. I don't know i don't grow them, but make sure you can look after them, being an orchid they're kind of fragile outside of the tropics.

But some bad news, the seeds of vanilla are microscopic and impossible to germinate without a special medium, a pressure cooker, a sterile chamber and a lot of due diligence and time. Not worth it unless you're really keen on a long term project.

Much (MUCH) better idea to get a full-size plant, if you can't get it in a trade, i'm not sure if SAB carries it, but there are a couple on Ebay now, and only a few places that carry them. One is here.

Edited by Undergrounder

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lol way to put me off a plant Undergrounder, nah j/k. Although i would imagine with the occasional frosts we get down here, the vanilla wouldn't enjoy it. Ah ok, well when i read 'Aerial roots' i assumed that the plant was a parasite.

Anyway, i've also been doing some reading on Frankincense and myrh (spelling) and salem don't mind i'll voice my interest in some seeds or cuttings of these plants.

cheers

Edit: i know what Aerial roots are now!!

Edited by peaceful_son

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Seems I'll be getting something like This due to AQIS regulations. Inferior but still frankincense.

Pretty much same thread at AE with some good info here

Peaceful - I can send you a cutting of some vanilla plant if you think it will grow down there. I picked it up from a local nursery last summer. It didn't really like winter up here though, just started to grow nicely about a month ago.

Also get a plant from Here if you want some thing established

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Was just looking through Undergrounders link and they have Vanilla polylepis which will tolerate cooler climbs than planifolia.

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Man it seems like its near on impossible to get anything live in OZ..I can't find bugger all as far a plants or even seed..I Googled my ass off looking and created a fuckin big ass carbon footprint doin it..DOH..!!

H.

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Thinking of getting these...LINK

They are allowed by AQIS so should be ok to order them.

I found a few places with sacra/carteri seed but it's not allowed in. In case you feel lucky.... LINK

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Any luck on this front Salem? Did you manage to get the seeds from eBay? Looks like eBay may be the saviour if we're willing to import.

cheers

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