Frankincense & Myrr Frankincense, also called olibanum (Arabic language: lubbān), is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra. It is used in incense as well as in perfumes. Fankincense is tapped from the very scraggly but hardy Boswellia tree by scraping the bark and allowing the exuded resins to bleed out and harden. These hardened resins are called tears. There are numerous species and varieties of frankincense trees, each producing a slightly different type of resin. Differences in soil and climate create even more diversity of the resin, even within the same species.