Commiphora caerulea Burtt

Tree 3–15 m. tall with a regular spreading crown; trunk up to 80 cm. in diameter at breast height; bark of trunk and larger branches peeling each year about July in cream-coloured papery flakes; before peeling the trunks are a distinctive pale milky blue, afterwards a rich blue-green; exudate fluid, scentless; young twigs ± 1.2 mm. in diameter, fluted, pubescent, later grey and glabrescent.. Leaves and inflorescences clustered at the ends of short-and long-shoots.. Leaves 3–9(–11)-foliolate, pubescent all over or the hairs restricted to rhachis, margins and veins; rhachis up to 12 cm. long, including a petiole up to 6 cm.; leaflets elliptic or oblong-elliptic, rounded or acute at the apex, asymmetricallly rounded or pointed basally, with 12–20 teeth all along each side and an ultimate vein-network usually prominent both above and beneath; terminal leaflet cuneate at the base, ± 5 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, laterals on average 3 × 1.7 cm.. Flowers greenish yellow appearing with, or just before the young leaves in densely pubescent subumbellate cymes on peduncles up to 20 mm. long, but usually much less, ♂ inflorescences 3–6-, ♀ 1–3-flowered; bracts linear-triangular, brown, caducous, 1–2(–5) mm. long.. Receptacle densely pubescent, tumbler-shaped, 3 mm. long, 2.3 mm. wide, Calyx divided almost to the base into triangular-ovate densely pubescent 1.7 mm. long lobes, Petals pubescent outside, oblong, narrowed and reflexed distally but with a tiny inflexed apiculum, 4 mm. long × 1.2 mm. wide; filaments 3.0 and 2.5 mm., anthers 1.0 and 0.6 mm. long, the filaments 0.7 mm. wide at the base, tapering to a pointed tip.. Fruits usually single, sometimes 2 or 3 together on a 2–11 mm. peduncle and 3–6 mm. pedicels; drupe pubescent at first, later glabrescent, flattened-ellipsoid, ± 15 × 12 mm. when fresh, ± 10 × 8 × (3 + 4) mm. when dry; pseudaril scarlet when mature, its larger lobe covering most of the fertile locule, the opposite lobe much smaller, sutural lobes absent; stone flattened-ellipsoid, indented at the base, both faces smooth and gently convex, ± 7.5 × 6.5 × (1.5 + 2 mm.).. Fig. 14/5–8.

A tropical plant. It grows on thicketed ravines and rocky hill slopes.

The young roots are chewed for juices.