Guest guest Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 We recently had a customer request that I NOT send her green spikenard after placing her online order. Since I have never carried green spikenard, my interest was tweaked and I (of course) Googled to see what she was talking about. And, I put my feelers out to a couple of reputable producers, who also appeared to be uninformed about it. I find a plethora of web sites offering it, including one that claims it is steam distilled from the 'resin' of the plant (not the rhizomes as one would expect). Huh? It has the same Latin binomial (Nardostachys jatamansi) on all of these sites as does the non-green version, with no clarification of a varietal difference. In most other instances, when 'green' is indicated, the oil is usually extracted from immature or unripened fruit, i.e., green mandarin. I would think it highly unlikely that this is distilled from immature rhizomes - what sense would that make? Poorer yield being the primary reason. These sellers claim it is from Nepal (one of the reasons it is supposedly superior to what they call 'brown' spikenard from India) - well, most if not all Spikenard is from the Himalayas (Nepal/India). Yes, it is somewhat rare and difficult to find. Some of the sellers I see are ones that raise my eyebrows with regard to other questionable information they proffer on their websites, so I am not hopeful that I'm going to get a good answer on this one. Who here might know the real skinny on this green spikenard? Is it legit, or is this just another marketing hype for a synthetic or inferior oil? I'm tempted to order some just to msgc it. Be Well, Marcia Elston, Samara Botane http://www.wingedseed.com <http://www.wingedseed.com/> http://www.wingedseed.blogspot.com <http://www.wingedseed.blogspot.com/> http://www.aromaconnection.org <http://www.aromaconnection.org/> P Why not consider the environment before printing this email ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Hi Marcia This tweaked my interest as well. I was gifted some a few years ago and it is a lovely oil, but I have no other *colour* SpN to compare it to so cant give you a comparison. One web site says its " Steamed distilled - from the rhizomes/root* and another that its " Steamed distilled from resin " so I'm non the wiser. On my travels I also found Red Spikenard - and Brown (which some say is adulterated with Valerian.) I do wonder if different oils may stem from the confusion between Nardostachys jatamansi, Picrorhiza kurrooa, and other similar species? Traffic Bulletin - Volume 18, No 2, April 2000 may explain - I think! (I'll upload it) Interesting. LLx 2008/7/17 Marcia Elston <Marcia: > We recently had a customer request that I NOT send her green spikenard after > placing her online order. Since I have never carried green spikenard, my > interest was tweaked and I (of course) Googled to see what she was talking > about. And, I put my feelers out to a couple of reputable producers, who > also appeared to be uninformed about it. I find a plethora of web sites > offering it, including one that claims it is steam distilled from the > 'resin' of the plant (not the rhizomes as one would expect). Huh? It has > the same Latin binomial (Nardostachys jatamansi) on all of these sites as > does the non-green version, with no clarification of a varietal difference. > In most other instances, when 'green' is indicated, the oil is usually > extracted from immature or unripened fruit, i.e., green mandarin. I would > think it highly unlikely that this is distilled from immature rhizomes - > what sense would that make? Poorer yield being the primary reason. > > These sellers claim it is from Nepal (one of the reasons it is supposedly > superior to what they call 'brown' spikenard from India) - well, most if not > all Spikenard is from the Himalayas (Nepal/India). Yes, it is somewhat rare > and difficult to find. Some of the sellers I see are ones that raise my > eyebrows with regard to other questionable information they proffer on their > websites, so I am not hopeful that I'm going to get a good answer on this > one. > > Who here might know the real skinny on this green spikenard? Is it legit, > or is this just another marketing hype for a synthetic or inferior oil? I'm > tempted to order some just to msgc it. > > Be Well, > Marcia Elston, Samara Botane > http://www.wingedseed.com <http://www.wingedseed.com/> > http://www.wingedseed.blogspot.com <http://www.wingedseed.blogspot.com/> > http://www.aromaconnection.org <http://www.aromaconnection.org/> > P Why not consider the environment before printing this email ? > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.