Botanical index

Essential Oils Botanical Index

Plant profiles are sorted by binomial name and plant part, with distillation records and safety notes for student reference.

Primary Botanical Families

Each family entry lists representative genera and the plant parts most often distilled.

Mint family. Common genera include Lavandula, Mentha, and Rosmarinus. Flowering tops and leaves are the usual distilled parts.

Citrus family. Common genera include Citrus. Peel is the usual distilled part, often yielding cold-pressed oils.

Pine family. Common genera include Pinus and Abies. Needles, twigs, and resin are the usual distilled parts.

The primary stages run from raw plant harvest through condensation and separation.

Plant material is gathered at the stage recorded for its plant part.

Material is placed in the still with water or steam as the method requires.

Steam carries volatile compounds out of the plant material.

Vapor is cooled and collected, separating essential oil from hydrosol.