Bursera

I found seeds of this plant on the EBay store, the miniatree garden this May. The seeds were planted on May 20, 2020. They need heat to...Read More germinate, so a heat mat was used to provide a 90 degree F. soil temperature. Ten seeds were planted and they germinated in about a week. Of the ten seeds eight sprouted. As of August 15, The seedlings range from 3 to 10 inches tall, with an average height of about 6 inches.
Burseras are related to frankincense and myrrh, but grow in desert areas of the New World, chiefly Mexico. B. laxiflora lives in the Northwestern part of Mexico, from Sonora through Baja California. The sap of the tree is fragrant, and can be harvested for incense. My plants are way too young for this, but the fragrance is very noticeable when pinching out or pruning the plants. The leaves are pinnate and the leaflets are lance shaped and serrated, with five to seven leaflets. The leaves remind me of some kinds of sumac, though with fewer leaflets and much smaller. They are caudiciform plants with the base of the trunk swollen into a caudex. As my plants are only a few months old, I don't know how thick the caudex will be, but even the smallest shows a pronounced swelling. The plants are very attractive and start branching at about six to seven inches tall. In nature, they form a small tree, from 19 to 30 feet tall, but I am hoping to use Bonsai Technique to keep them manageable. I have some success using that technique in the related B. fagaroides and B. microphylla.
I am growing my plants in cactus/succulent soil mixture, though they want more frequent watering than cacti. The plants are deciduous, and their leaves turn yellow and drop if they get too dry. They probably need a cool, dry dormant period in winter like B. fagaroides and B. microphylla. During this dormancy, Burseras drop all their leaves.
So far, these plants are very easy to care for. They like very bright light, such as a south window, and they grow quite quickly compared to other succulents. I think that they would make nice container plants for a patio or deck in summer, but they would need to be stored in a frost free place in winter. This should be little problem because they are leafless and dormant at that time. Anyone who keeps Plumerias would have no problems.