Frankincenses, Boswellia spp., are trees and small shrubs noted for the aromatic resin they produce, found in East Africa, Arabia, and parts of South Asia. In 1971 Frank Nigel Hepper of Kew Royal Botanic Gardens described a Dwarf Frnakincense, Boswellia nana, from the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean (a noted hotspot for botanical endemism). In 2004, botanists Anthony Miller and Miranda Morris reported a second species of Dwarf Frankincense from Socotra, something which several subsequent studies have also recorded, but which has not, to date, been formally described.
In a paper published in the Nordic Journal of Botany on 20 February 2025, Mats Thulin of the Department of Organismal Biology at Uppsala University, Michael Weber from Bad Berka in Germany, Sami Ali Mohammed Mubarak from Socotra Island, and Alain Rzepecky from São Brás de Alportel in Portugal, formally describe the second species of Socotran Dwarf Frankincense.
The new species is named Boswellia hesperia, where 'hesperia' means 'west', the species having been found exclusively at the western end of the Island of Socotra; this is in contrast to Boswellia nana, which is found exclusively at the eastern end of the island. Boswellia hesperia is an entirely prostrate dwarf species, found growing within holes and crevasses in limestone rock. This habit is also seen in Boswellia nana, although that species sometimes also produces dwarf shrubs up to 2 m high. Boswellia hesperiai also differs from Boswellia nana in its leaves, which are waxy above, but covered in white fur below, whereas those of Boswellia nana are waxy on both sides.
Boswellia hesperia from mountain ridge above Neet, 5–6 km from the coast, Socotra, 18 May 2021. (A) plant filling out crevice in limestone rock, leafless, showing reddish white flowers and fruits, (B) leafless plant with flowers and fruits. Alain Rzepecky in Thulm et al. (2025).
The total area over which Boswellia hesperia is found is about 63 km², however, the distribution of the species is patchy, and it probably is only found over an area of about 20 km². This limited distribution, along with the apparent risk of the species being overgrazed by Goats, leads Thulm et al. to recommend that Boswellia hesperia be classified as Critically Endangered under the terms of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
Boswellia hesperia, seedling flowering after about one and a half year in cultivation. Alain Rzepecky in Thulm et al. (2025).
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