True cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), today a well known and much used spice, was once the stuff of legend - an ancient, esteemed and sought after aromatic in the spice trade.
The Pelargonium genus contains a vast array of flowering plants, many of them native to the countries on the southern tip of Africa. The name geranium is a little confusing as true geraniums belong to a different species.
The captivating neroli essential oil is extracted from fragrant citrus blossoms of the bitter orange tree.
Mandarins have their origin in China, native to the countries of South East Asia and the Philippines. The fruit spread through Asia and eventually in the 19th century to the Western world.
Myrrh is a natural exudate or gum resin collected from Commiphora trees that inhabit the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
A member of the hardy Sage herbal family, clary sage is native to the Northern Mediterranean, growing both in the wild and cultivated.
The elegant cypress tree is an evergreen conifer, originating from the Eastern Mediterranean.
High up in the Atlas mountains spreading across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, forests of cedarwood Atlas trees grow yielding an essential oil from their highly aromatic hardwood.
The camphor or camphor laurel tree (Cinnamomum camphora) is native to China, Japan and Taiwan with botanically similar sub-species now growing in many other countries.
Limes were first cultivated more than 2,000 years BCE in tropical and subtropical regions of South East Asia and northern India, spreading west at the time of Alexander the Great.
