Rosemary verbenone EO Organic
Origin: South Africa

• Details and product description

  Introduction:

  Rosemary is a small shrub measuring 60 cm to 1.5 m in height. It grows wild in the Mediterranean region, especially on limestone in arid and rocky scrublands. Each plant is very bushy with numerous branches. Its small needle-shaped leaves stay green year-round. They are narrow, opposite, very numerous, and their interior side is whitish. The stem becomes woody after two years. Its flowers, usually pale blue, are spattered with purple on the inside. They are arranged in short, dense clusters. The flower is gamopetalous and bilabiate, with two petals on the upper lip and three on the lower. It has four stamens, including two that are sterile and reduced to hooks. Rosemary may flower throughout the year with the progressive anthesis of the flower buds. The fruit is a small, hard nutlet. There are several ornamental varieties, some creeping (Prostratus, ang: creeping rosemary), with blue (Tuscan blue), pink or white flowers, and cold-resistant varieties (Arp and Hill Hardy) Did you know? It is a honey plant; rosemary honey, or Narbonne honey, is comes from bees that forage the rosemary flowers producing this excellent honey that has a strong, fragrant taste. There are only a few different species of Rosemary; mainly three: - Rosmarinus officinalis L. with green leaves, these are the vast majority of species found in the wild - Rosmarinus eriocalyx Jord & Fourr. (Syn: R. tournefortii De Noe) with yellow leaves - Rosmarinus tomentosus Huber-Morath & Maire

  History:

  It’s French name romarin is said to come from the Latin ros marinus (sea dew), or from the Greek rhops myrinos (aromatic bush)3, or perhaps from the Latin “rhus marinus” (sea sumac). It is also referred to as the “crown-herb”, and in the Provençal language, as “encensier” (or, incense-maker). It is one of the plants whose cultivation was recommended in the royal domains by Charlemagne in the Capitulare de villis (end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century). Known since antiquity, rosemary was already associated with the funerary rites of ancient Egypt by embalmers, then by the Athenians and Romans for whom it symbolized immortality. It was dedicated to Venus. This balsamic plant is mentioned in the Capitulare de villis, and was introduced into medicinal plant gardens as early as the Middle Ages, where it appears on the garden plans of the St. Gall monastery, dating back to the ninth century. Its medicinal properties are found in the treatises on Arab medicine of the 13th century (Cogliati, 1976), but it derives its reputation from the famous “Queen of Hungary’s Water” who, at 72 years of age and disabled in both legs, received this elixir of youth from a hermit. Regaining her youth and past beauty, the King of Poland then asked her to marry him. Rosemary was widely used in the past; its most renowned preparations being: - Queen of Hungary’s Water - Four Thieves Vinegar - Cologne - Tranquility Balm - Opodeldoch Balm The use of rosemary in perfumery is quite ancient. It has a legendary reputation for curing all ailments and as a beauty treatment. It is the main ingredient in “Queen of Hungary’s Water”, a rosemary alcoholate that, in the 14th century, is said to have miraculously restored health and beauty to Queen Elizabeth of Hungary, who was then a septuagenarian. She would have used it in 1378 at the age of 7 Queen of Hungary’s Water: Mix 150 ml of Orange Blossom Water with 150 ml of 6 % alcohol, then add: - 2 tbsp. of dried rosemary - 1 tbsp. of dried mint - 1 tbsp. of dried rose petals - 1 pressed lemon peel Let macerate for 25 days, stirring every day. Filter and bottle.   The legend of the invention of Four Thieves Vinegar recounts the story of several thieves, who robbed corpses during a plague epidemic, without being contaminated themselves. Interrogated about their resistance, they replied that they had discovered a remedy, the famous “Four Thieves Vinegar,” which they took daily. The date, location, and even the number of thieves, as well as the composition of the remedy itself, are the object of many variations. The date is generally situated between the 14th and 18th centuries, and the cities of Marseille and Toulouse are often cited. Four Thieves Vinegar was entered into the Codex in 1748 and sold in pharmacies as an antiseptic.   According to another legend, rosemary was originally a plant with white flowers. Before giving birth to the baby Jesus, Mary is said to have put down her blue cape on a rosemary bush planted in front of the stable. The cape colors then faded into the shrub, and, for this reason, rosemary has produced blue flowers ever since. Many see another origin for the name rosemary within this legend, as in “Rose of Mary” (the plant’s English name, Rosemary, is very close to this).

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