Frankincense trees are threatened by Christmas.

[NNadir]

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A word to the wise men: The world may have plenty of gold and myrrh, but it could run short of frankincense.

Trees in the Horn of Africa provide most of the world's supply of the prized incense that was carried to the infant Jesus by the wise men from the East, in the New Testament's Nativity story. But researchers say the trees are failing to reproduce because they are overexploited for the sap that yields the Christmas staple.

According to a study co-authored by botanists and ecologists from the Netherlands and Eritrea and published this month in The Journal of Applied Ecology, the more heavily a frankincense tree is tapped, the less likely it is to produce viable seeds.

That's not a big problem as long as new trees take root, but other recent studies by scientists and observers from the U.N. Environmental Program have found the number of trees is dwindling in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia — which together make up the bulk of the export market.

Stick with the myrrh.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061222/ap_on_sc/dwindling_frankincense

[Porcupine]

1. Hmm, maybe those good Christians could save them.

It would cost so little to set up a genetic resevoir somewhere else. Considering how important these trees are to Christian history somebody could find the money.

[Why Syzygy]

2. Frankincense

is not just for Christians/Christmas. It is delightful. And very expensive.