The family includes both trees and shrubs; its species are native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas.

The Burseraceae are characterized by the generally non-allergenic resin they produce in virtually all plant tissue and their distinctive smooth, yet flaking, aromatic bark.

The leaves are generally alternate, spiral, and odd-pinnately compound with opposite, frequently long-petiolulate, entire to serrate, pinnately veined leaflets whose symmetry is distinctive in some genera.

[7] The Bursereae, which are further split into subtribes Boswelliinae and Burserinae, contain Commiphora (nearly 200 species and largest in the family), Aucoumea, Beiselia, Boswellia, Bursera, and Triomma.

[7] Finally, the Canarieae are composed of Canarium (75 species and largest in this tribe), Dacryodes, Haplolobus, Pseudodacryodes, Rosselia, Santiria, Scutinanthe, and Trattinnickia.

[3] The currently recognized families include Aceraceae, Anacardiaceae, Burseraceae, Hippocastanaceae, Julianaceae, Meliaceae, Rutaceae, Sapindaceae, and Simaroubaceae.

[7] However, each tribe has a representative genus present in all the tropical regions: Dacryodes (Canarieae), Protium (Protieae), and Commiphora (Bursereae).

[5] More specifically, the earliest diverging genus was Beiselia (of the Bursereae subtribe Boswelliinae) in either North America, Mexico, or the Caribbean in the Paleocene.

[5] The Canarieae and Boswelliinae (subtribes of Bursereae) dispersed from western Laurasia and spread eastward during the Eocene; fossils of Canarium, for example, from the Czech Republic date to the Late Oligocene (23 Mya).

[5] The seeds may provide a high reward in fat (24–73%) and protein (2.7–25.9%) if digested, but many animals eat just the fleshy part of the fruit and either discard the endocarp right away or excrete it some time later.

[5] Some known Burseraceae fruit consumers include hornbills (Buceros bicornis, Ceratogyma atrata, C. cylindricus, Penelopides panini), oilbirds (Steatnoris caripensis), fruit pigeons, warblers, vireos, orioles, flycatchers, tanagers, woodpeckers, loeries, primates (Cercopithecus spp., Lophocebus albigena), lemurs (Varecia variegate subsp.

Finally, the namesakes of the family Boswellia carterii (frankincense) and Commiphora abyssinica (myrrh) are important economically and medicinally in several parts of the world.

Commonly known as tabonuco (or gommier, also candlewood), Dacryodes excelsa is a large, dominant tree found in Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean.

Species in the genus Bursera, especially the so-called elephant tree, grow primarily in Mexico, where their secretions are a raw material in making varnish.

[9] However, the Bursera may also be considered an ornamental genus and a common representative of the family in the United States, especially in Florida (B. simaruba) and the Southwest (B. odorata, B.

[3][10] Naked Indian (also known as gumbo limbo), or Bursera simaruba, in particular, is found in Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, Venezuela, and Brazil.

[17] In addition, the resin may also be used similarly to tiger balm (containing Cinnamomum camphora of the Lauraceae) to relieve sprains and muscle aches.

[18] The bark serves as an antidote to skin irritation caused by Metopium toxiferum (also known as poisonwood, Florida poison tree, and hog gum) of the Anacardiaceae.

The gumbo limbo grows quickly and can be used to make a living fence especially out of cut limbs that are placed straight into the ground or for restoration projects as a pioneer species.

Frankincense, or olibanum, (Boswellia carterii) and myrrh (Commiphora abyssinica) have long been valued for the aromatic resins they produce.

The liquid sap hardens and is gathered, sold as is or further processed and mixed with spices, seeds, and roots to make various forms of incense.

[19] The ancient Egyptians prized frankincense for the resin they used to make the characteristic dark eyeliner and myrrh as an embalming agent for deceased pharaohs.

Pills containing small doses of frankincense and other ingredients are valued in oriental medicine for promoting blood flow and the movement of the qi (‘life force’ or ‘spiritual energy’).

[19] and myrrh is similarly claimed to promote blood flow, stimulate the stomach and digestion, and to be useful in treating diabetes, menopause, uterine tumors, amenorrhoea, and dysmenorrhea.