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| Geographic coverage World= 1
| Medicinal= 1
| Timber= 1
}}
:Family: Burseraceae
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
The plant is recorded to contain flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins and tannins.
== Botany Description ==
Dioecious shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall; bark with annular appearance. Leaves alternate, often clustered at tips of branches, up to 30 cm long, imparipinnately compound, with (7–)9 leaflets, glabrous; rachis finely grooved, whitish; petiolules thin, lateral ones 15–25 mm long; leaflets orbicular or broadly ovate, 3–4.5 cm × 2.5–3.5 cm, base rounded, apex acuminate with acumen c. 1.5 cm long, pinnately veined with 5–7 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence an axillary spike with flowers in fascicles. Flowers unisexual, regular, small. Infructescences a few together on twigs below the leaves. Fruit a compressed ovoid drupe 1.5–2 cm long, winged, dehiscent with 2 valves, with stone c. 12 mm long, covered by false aril at base. Fruiting of ''Commiphora pterocarpa'' is in December.
== Other botanical information ==
''Commiphora'' comprises about 200 species and occurs in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and South America. It is most abundant in the drier parts of eastern and southern Africa and in Madagascar. In Madagascar the number of species is estimated at 50. Several species of ''Commiphora'' are important for their gum resins, the best known being myrrh from ''Commiphora myrrha'' (Nees) Engl. from Somalia and Yemen.
=== ''Commiphora angolensis'' ===''[[Commiphora angolensis]]'' Engl. (‘sand corkwood’) is a shrub or small tree up to 5 m tall, distributed in Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Its wood is used for carving household utensils. The root is an important source of water in the Kalahari desert. In Zimbabwe the root is used in the treatment of diarrhoea.
=== ''Commiphora fulvotomentosa'' ===''[[Commiphora fulvotomentosa]]'' Engl. is a small tree up to 12 m tall, distributed in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Its soft wood is used for carvings, spoons, water pots and beehives. The tree is also used for live fences and for marking boundaries.
=== ''Commiphora glandulosa'' ===''[[Commiphora glandulosa]]'' Schinz (‘tall common corkwood’; synonym: ''Commiphora pyracanthoides'' Engl. subsp. ''glandulosa'' (Schinz) Wild) is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall, distributed from Angola, DR Congo and Tanzania south to South Africa. Its wood is used for household utensils, and stems are often planted to develop into live fences.
=== ''Commiphora glaucescens'' ===''[[Commiphora glaucescens]]'' Engl. (‘blue-leaved corkwood’) is a shrub or small tree up to 8 m tall, occurring in southern Angola and Namibia. Its wood is made into household utensils and the tree is browsed by livestock.
=== ''Commiphora hildebrandtii'' ===''[[Commiphora hildebrandtii]]'' (Engl.) Engl. is a small tree up to 10 m tall, occurring in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Uganda. Its wood is used for making small milk vessels; the stem yields a gum.
=== ''Commiphora woodii'' ===''[[Commiphora woodii]]'' Engl. (‘forest corkwood’; synonym: ''Commiphora caryaefolia'' Oliv.) is a small tree up to 15 m tall distributed in Mozambique and South Africa. Its wood is lightweight and is used for fishing floats. Gum is obtained from the bark. Stem cuttings are often planted to develop into live fences.
== Ecology ==
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Timbers (PROTA)]]