Kathi KevilleSeventeenth-century Europeans took a fancy to this tender African perennial, also known as “rose geranium,” and propagated it in their greenhouses. The resulting hybridization increased the species to more than 600, which includes many...
Native to the tropics, ginger's thin, broad leaves are attached to a surprisingly succulent, spicy rhizome. The herb originated near the Indian Ocean, but it is now grown throughout the tropics.
This flower, sometimes called “everlast” or “immortelle,” is native to the Mediterranean and North Africa and is cultivated in Spain, Italy and Yugoslavia. A related species, H. orientale, is also grown for oil, while H...
Once considered sacred, this herb was often used in purification practices. Hyssop comes from the Mediterranean. Most of the oil produced goes into expensive perfumes. Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae) Extraction: Distilled from flowering tops. The odor...
This plant native to Asia and cultivated in many locales produces an essential oil that is strongly mucolytic. It is best dispensed from a diffuser for respiratory problems. Family: Asteraceae (Compositae) Extraction: Distilled from the root...
Probably an Iranian native, jasmine has captured the imagination for centuries. Forty-three different species are grown in East India, where women dress their hair with it and where it is poetically known as “moonlight of the grove.”...
The berries of this North American shrub flavor gin, named after geniŠvre, French for “juniper berry.” Traditionally the fragrance was thought to ward off contagious diseases. Native Americans living in the high deserts of the West still...
Regardless of its reputation as a love potion, the 14th-century nuns of St. Just included coriander in their Carmelite water, a scent and complexion product that remained popular for the next four centuries. Coriander dominated Eau de Carnes...
Native to Spain and Greece, this is the “rockrose” grown in some North American gardens. Possibly the Bible’s onycha and “rose of Sharon” (Song 2:1), it often replaces ambergris. It has long been popular in Spain, which...
Some perfumes use small amounts of cumin, which is native to Egypt and the Mediterranean. The seed is commonly used in Mexican and East Indian foods, and is traditionally used in the ancient Ayurvedic medicine of East India. Family: Apiaceae...
