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Bursera fagaroides
Also called Elephant Tree, Mexican Frankincense, Copal
Bursera fagaroides is a seasonally dry tropical shrub or small tree from Mexico, reaching up to 10 m, with a swollen trunk and peeling red-tinged bark. It is grown mainly for its resinous, aromatic character and suits warm, sunny, well-drained sites.
Bursera fagaroides is a species of flowering plant in the genus Bursera known by the common names torchwood copal and fragrant bursera. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Sonora to Oaxaca, and its range extends just into Arizona in the United States, although some sources suggest that it may now be extirpated in Arizona.
This plant is a shrub or tree growing up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall. The trunk is swollen, with peeling red-tinged bark. The leaves are pinnate, each made up of 5 to 11 leaflets. The flowers are borne singly or in clusters at the ends of branches and are white, sometimes with a yellow or greenish tint. The gray-brown triangular fruit is about 6 millimeters long and splits open when ripe to release a reddish seed.
In Mexico, the gum from the tree has been used in treating scorpion stings and insect bites.
Bursera aromatica · Bursera bipinnata · Cherry Leaf Elephant Tree · Bursera excelsa · Bursera filicifolia · Bursera glabrifolia · Bursera grandifolia · Palo santo · Red Elephant Tree · Bursera hollickii · Bursera lancifolia · Bursera laxiflora
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bursera fagaroides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
