Myrtlewood vs. Myrtle Oil vs. Bay Laurel

[Guest guest]

Thought I'd throw in some information here before everyone gets all excited

about the Oregon/California Myrtlewood as an aromatic to be distilled or

tinctured for perfumes. This species (Umbellularia californica) is a

hardwood used for furniture, boxes and decorative items like the perfume

bottle that has been mentioned/pictured. Aka California Bay, which

discussed earlier is not appropriate as a replacement for Bay Laurel (Laurus

nobilis) which is grown in the Mediterranean, either, where the leaves are

the plant part distilled. U. californica has very toxic ketone properties

and could be dangerous if substituted for either Bay Laurel or Red/Green

Myrtle. No essential oil in the wood. Red (and Green) Myrtle essential oil

comes from Myrtus communis grown in Corsica (green-ct.linalool), France,

Yugoslavia, Tunisia and Morocco (red-ct. cineole). The branches are the

plant part distilled.

So, sorry if this dampens the enthusiasm, just wanted to remind everyone to

be careful and make sure they know exactly what plant (Latin binomial) they

are extracting so you can be sure to have complete information about the oil

produced. The perfume vessels are very lovely, however, and a clever way to

display a nice natural perfume - in the glass bottle, perhaps wouldn't be

safe to put it inside the carved wood itself.

Be well,

Marcia Elston

Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence, est. 1988

http://www.wingedseed.com Online 3/95

http://www.aromaconnection.org Group Blog 2/07

" Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide and slavery - have

resulted from obedience, not disobedience. "

Zinn