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Botany, Incense, andMyrrh
by Hélène Barthey
(Energies, Vol. 27, Spring, 1996, pp.37-39)
[Yemen Update 39(1997):52-53]
"Africa is a continent fascinating enough tofill a lifetime", says Théodore Monod, who has indeed devotedhis life's work to exploring the deserts of Africa and their "borderzone" which, until the relatively recent intrusion of the Red Sea,included the Yemen as well. On his return from a first expedition tothe Yemen in 1977, Théodore Monod put together an herbariumcontaining about a thousand plants, which is housed in the ParisMuseum of Natural History. But with only 2,500 species identified sofar, the study of Yemen's flora is still a long way from completion.The Yemen is a vast country with a very diverse topography that ishome to a wide variety of plant species. And as yet no botanist hasever ventured into the desert regions of the highplateaux&emdash;where the temperature can top 60° C&emdash;tostudy the flora.
Despite his age, 93-year-old Professor Monodwas keen to set out again to explore this untrammelled zone which ishome to numerous plant species that are threatened with extinction."I had two reasons for going to the Yemen. Firstly, I wanted to makesure the existing herbaria were complete, and secondly, I wanted tomake people more aware of the need to preserve plant species that arefast becoming extinct."
After several delays, the botanical projectfinally got under way last year [1995], with the expeditionspending three weeks in the Yemen in April-May, at the end of therainy season when most species are in full flower. The expeditionexplored the Aden volcano and then continued out to the desertregions of the southern Joll Seban plateau, the Wadi Hadramout, thenorthern Joll, into the Rub' Al-Khali and the area aroundShabwa.
But the going was not always easy... It tookthe team all of five hours just to clamber up Mount Shamsan. "It wasa gruelling but fascinating climb, followed by an overnight bivouacin the cold wind", comments Professor Monod's companion Jose-MarieBel, without whom Monod's trip would have been quite impossible. "Myyoung friend Jose-Marie was my hands, my legs and my eyes", smilesMonod. "It was he who scrambled up the jagged rocks like a mountaingoat in search of plant specimens."
Despite an age-gap of two generations, thetwo men became fast friends. Both are fascinated by rocks and plants,and they share a love of the desert and a commitment to theconservation of nature.
During their botanical quest, the two mengathered specimens from a total of 34 different sites, and their"harvest" of 850 plants is now preserved in two herbaria, one ofwhich is in the Paris Museum of Natural History. When gatheringspecimens, they tried to bring back only native species like theeuphorbia (Euphorbia adenis), which is extremely rare, ormyrrh, khat and coffee. And of course the fabled incense tree, whichis in danger of becoming extinct in the Yemen. The Natural HistoryMuseum did not possess a single specimen of incense.
Incense and myrrh are resins produced bytrees and bushes that are almost "as old as the hills." Man has beenusing them for some 5,000 years, but they have probably existed forabout 8,000 years. Incense and myrrh were gathered for export toEgypt from across the Hadramout region of South Yemen, in the Dhofarand throughout the Horn of Africa. But the incense tree that grows inthe Yemen belongs to a specific family called Boswelia sacrathat is only found in that country.
According to the evidence turned up byarcheologists, the spice and incense trade goes back about 3,000years. The Arabs living throughout the area acted as middlemen intrading spices brought from Asia (pepper, ginger, cloves, etc.) andhighly-prized by the great civilisations of the Mediterranean basin.Then the cargoes of spices and incense were carried by camel train toEgypt, Greece and then Rome. Later on, the spice trade was carried onby sea as well. Then, early in the 16th century, this age-oldcommerce was interrupted by the arrival of the Portuguese.
Unfortunately, the Boswelia sacra isnow dying out, and this is partly the fault of man. Up on the highplateaux, at altitudes of 1,000 to 3,000 metres, the localinhabitants practise very intensive terrace-farming, and this hasdestroyed much of the flora. We know absolutely nothing about theplants that grew there in earlier times. The local people also runherds of goats, and these can devastate the vegetation, eating eventhe young seedlings, so the Boswelia is finding it hard to reproduce.Then the weeds take over, making the landscape even more arid. Downin the better-watered areas of the Horn of Africa, other families ofincense tree still grow. But unless an effort is made to stem thedamaged caused by farmers and their animals, and to stimulate thetrees by regularly harvesting the resin, Yemeni incense trees willsoon be a thing of the past. And competition from manufacturedincense, like the incense-sticks exported by India, has furtherhastened the demise of incense and myrrh found in Yemen.
Other legendary plants found in the Yemenhave fared slightly better. Myrrh comes from a little shrub calledCommiflora, and specimens of this plant can still be found around BirAli. In Biblical times, myrrh was traded through the thriving port ofQana, which is where Melchior began his journey.
Coffee, which originally came from Ethiopiaand Abyssinia, is doing much better, with 25,000 hectares undercultivation today. The Yemenis grew coffee up in the mountains fromthe 14th century onwards, but they did not drink much of itthemselves&emdash;coffee was reserved for nobles and holy men, andfor export. The Yemen kept a monopoly on coffee until the 18thcentury when intrepid Dutch explorers took coffee plants to Java tosee if they would grow there. Then French traders where sent by KingLouis XIV to set up a trade with Mokha. Coffee trees were soontraveling further afield to Senegal, the Caribbean and even Brazil.But Arabian coffee is still a favorite, especially with manufacturersof fine chocolate.
Another age-old plant, the qat tree,is going strong too, with some 70,000 hectares under cultivation.Chewing qat leaves&emdash;a mild stimulant&emdash;is a socialpastime increasingly enjoyed by both men and women, with villagersgathering in the afternoon to chew qat and swap stories in theshade.
The first Yemeni herbarium was put togetherby the Danish botanist Forskal back in 1763. Over the years, numerousexpeditions followed, with interest gathering momentum in the 19thcentury. The recent expedition undertaken by Théodore Monodand Jose-Marie Bel has carried his work further. By addinginformation provided by expeditions to other countries, this voyagehas provided insights into the origins and migration of variousplants, which was often caused by climatic changes. It has also castnew light on how plants evolve, how they adapt in order to ensuretheir own survival. The latest study also tells us a lot about thedamaged caused by man&emdash;one striking example here is the effectof acid rain on vegetation. This combined data paint a vivid pictureof just how man's various activities have affected our Mother Earth,and stresses the urgent need to preserve all remaining species whilethey do indeed still exist.
This is the purpose of the very active YemenArchitectural and Cultural Heritage Association (APAY), of whichThéodore Monod is Honorary President and Jose-Marie BelPresident. Both men are striving to make the Yemenis more aware ofthe need to preserve their botanical heritage, just as the Yemen isdoing with its architectural tradition. The association isencouraging the Yemen to set up a conservatory where plants will beprotected from both man and animals (goats, dromedaries...), like theones already set up in the other regions, like Djibouti.
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