In Somalia, the resin of Boswellia frereana has a name of its own: Maydi. And an epithet of its own: the “King of Frankincense”. This esteem is no marketing invention. It has botanical, geographical and chemical reasons that the wider market is only gradually coming to understand.
One habitat, no second
Boswellia frereana is an exception among frankincense species: it grows commercially only on a single mountain range on Earth, the Cal Madow in the northern Somali regions of Sanaag and Bari. Other frankincense species such as B. carterii, B. sacra (Oman) or B. serrata (India) each span several countries; frereana does not.
The tree clings to steep limestone cliffs, mainly at altitudes between roughly 1,200 and 1,800 metres. Above the cliffs, a microclimate of coastal fog and montane drought keeps relict forests alive, an environment that repeats exactly in no other Boswellia region. Single-origin is therefore not a claim here: there is no second habitat to blend in from. More on the region: see Cal Madow, our origin.
The harvest: hand-tapping, no machinery
Frereana is harvested as it has been for generations. Collectors climb into the cliffs and open the tree’s bark with a traditional tool, the mengaf, a narrow iron scraper. The oleo-gum resin emerges as tears, hardens in the air over weeks, and is then gathered and sorted.
The practice is non-destructive: trees are spared during rest periods so as not to exhaust the stands, a point that recent Boswellia research explicitly names as a precondition for a long-term stable supply (DeCarlo et al. 2023; Hassan et al. 2019).
Grades: Mushaad, Mujarwaal, Fas
After the harvest, sorting is done by hand. The regional classification has several tiers, of which only the top ones go into our distillation:
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| Mushaad (Grade 1) | Large, clear, pale-yellow to golden tears, the “royal” grade |
| Mujarwaal (Grade 2) | Medium to small, highly aromatic; only expert hands separate it from Grade 1 |
| Fas Kabir (Grade 3) | Pea-sized fragments, cleanly sorted |
| Fas Saqir (Grade 4) | Smaller fragments, still cleaned |
| Siftings | Fine breakage and powder, not for our line |
For our Frankincense Frereana oil we use the top two grades.
What separates Maydi chemically from Carterii and Sacra
Frereana has a markedly different chemical profile from what most buyers expect of “frankincense”:
- Boswellic acids are practically absent, the pentacyclic triterpenic acids (e.g. AKBA) that define B. carterii and B. sacra are largely missing in B. frereana (Schmiech et al. 2019). Instead, triterpenes such as lupeol and amyrins come to the fore.
- α-Phellandrene dimers are a taxonomic marker of the species, a signature found in this form only in frereana (Johnson et al. 2021).
- Incensole and incensole acetate are absent, both typical constituents of carterii and sacra. Their absence is diagnostic.
In scent, this translates into the characteristic pine-citrus, resinous-dry impression, fresh, clear, without the warm sweet depth one knows from classic olibanum. Open frereana and carterii side by side and you hear two different languages from the same family. A fuller comparison, Frereana, Carterii & Myrrh compared.
Single-origin as substance, not slogan
Maydi is the “King of Frankincense” not by accident, then, but for three reasons that coincide: a single habitat, a chemical profile of its own, and a generations-old sorting practice that separates the peak from the mass. That is the foundation on which we build Ceelfoox, and the first batch, distilled in Burao in autumn 2026, comes from exactly this tradition.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Maydi" mean?
Maydi (also Maidi) is the Somali trade name for the resin of Boswellia frereana. In the region it is traditionally regarded as the highest-quality frankincense, hence the epithet "King of Frankincense".
Where does Boswellia frereana grow?
Boswellia frereana grows commercially only in the Cal Madow mountains in the Somali regions of Sanaag and Bari, mainly on limestone cliffs between roughly 1,200 and 1,800 metres. It is the only known commercial habitat of the species worldwide.
How is frereana resin harvested?
Experienced collectors climb into the cliffs and score the bark with the traditional tool, the mengaf. The oleo-gum resin emerges as tears, hardens over weeks and is then sorted by hand into grades (Mushaad, Mujarwaal, Fas Kabir, Fas Saqir).
What sets frereana apart chemically from Boswellia carterii and sacra?
Frereana is practically free of boswellic acids and carries α-phellandrene dimers as a taxonomic marker; incensole and incensole acetate, typical constituents of B. carterii and B. sacra, are absent. Sensorially, frereana is fresher and more pine-citrus than the warmer, balsamic carterii.
Sources
- 01 Johnson S. et al. (2021). The Chemical Composition of Single-Tree Boswellia frereana Resin Samples. Natural Product Communications 16(9).
- 02 Schmiech M. et al. (2019). Comparative Analysis of Pentacyclic Triterpenic Acid Compositions in Boswellic Resins Important in African and Asian Ethnomedicine. Molecules 24(11), 2153.
- 03 DeCarlo A. et al. (2023). Evaluating the Potential of Boswellia rivae to Provide Sustainable Livelihood Benefits in Eastern Ethiopia. Plants 12, 2024.
- 04 Hassan B. et al. (2019). Boswellia and Commiphora Species as a Resource Base for Rural Livelihood Security in the Horn of Africa: A Systematic Review. Forests 10(7), 551.
This article describes botany, constituents (per published phytochemical analyses), origin and tradition. It makes no medical or health claims.
© Abdirahman Duale
