Geranium vs Rose Geranium

[Guest guest]

Hey Carmen,

 

Welcome aboard .. this is a super-nice group of folks. Got a couple of

ornary ones too .. me being one of them .. ;-p

 

> First post to the group, please be gentle. I have been reading

> Valerie Worwood's book The Complete Book of Essential Oils and

> Aromatherapy. At the same time I'm compiling a collection of EOs from

> various sources. I need to add geranium at this point.

 

If you are using Worwood's book to try to compile a collection of info

on EOs, you got a rough job cut out for you .. especially when it comes

to the Geraniums or Pelargoniums .. fact is, I think somewhere she even

lists Geranium as a mineral .. ;-) And she rarely discusses species or

types of the P. graveolens.

 

> Question: could you please differentiate between geranium EO and rose

> geranium EO, or at least point me in the right direction.

 

The right direction now is Sylla Shepherd-Hanger's Aromatherapy

Practitioner Reference Manual in two volumes .. you can see it and order

it at http://www.AV-AT.com/manual01.html

 

Also .. come late May, I will have available in the USA the finest set

of Monographs in existence .. Martin Watt's work. Just wait .. ;-p

 

In the meantime .. and first of all .. true geraniums STINK .. real bad

they stink. But we are not talking about oils from real geraniums.

 

I'm not gonna quote a buncha aromatherapy novels because they are at

best contradictory and at worst full of bovine excrement. For sure, I

am gonna avoid Worwood's book.

 

The best three ways to identify the Rose Geranium is with the nose, with

a GC .. and the price. Pure, unadulterated, high-quality Rose Scented

Geranium is gonna be more costly than normal Pelargonium graveolens.

 

They are both the same species .. Pelargonium .. but there are MANY

different aromas from the geranium plants .. has to do with chemical

composition. What we call " Rose Geranium " is just that .. smells more

rosey and less green .. but its Pelargoneum graveolens. But type

Pelargoneum roseum .. rose scented geranium. It'll be higher in:

 

Limonene

Trans-rose oxide

Linalool

Phenyl ethyl alcohol

 

Finally .. and more importantly, it'll be higher in Geraniol.

 

Now .. lemme tell you why you and me and the chemists are NEVER gonna be

real experts on this plant or oil .. there are some who think they are

but they are only experts when they are around people who know little

about the subject .. ;-P

 

An old text from Guenther:

 

Introduction, Botany, and Development. The taxonomy of the plants which

are cultivated in various parts of the world for the production of

commercial geranium oil has been a matter of much controversy and has

given rise to considerable confusion. In fact, the name geranium oil

itself is a misnomer, since the commercial types of geranium oil are

derived not from any Geranium, but from several species, varieties, and

strains of Pelargonium. P graveolens, P roseum, P radula, P capitatum, P

odoratissimum, P fragrans, and P terebinthinaceum have been stated as

the source of geranium oil According to Beckley,1 it is questionable

whether some of these terms are not fancy horticultural names, with no

real botanical meaning.

 

Neither the true P odoratissimum nor P fragrans is suitable for

cultivation for the purpose of oil production. The former consists of a

mass of radical leaves with a few long, trailing, flowering branches,

possessing a most unattractive odor. P fragrans is a small, bushy shrub

of pleasant odor, but the odor differs from that of geranium oil. The

term P roseum is most probably a garden name for P graveolens and P

radula types.

 

The Pelargonium plants readily cross, and soon after their introduction

into Europe so many hybrids were developed that today the numerous

existing varieties and strains can hardly be distinguished from one

another.

 

'Geranium " has now become a rather vague horticultural term which has no

relation to the botanical term Geranium, The only true Geranium species,

from which an essential oil is derived (and in very small quantities) ,

is G macrorrhizum L. (G lugubre Salisb., Robertium macrorrhizum Picard).

The latter grows wild in Bulgaria and other Balkan countries and is

occasionally used for the distillation of an oil said to be employed for

the adulteration of rose oil (cf. the monograph on " Oil of Geranium

macrorrhizum " ).

 

The only region in which Pelargonium grows wild is the Cape Province

(Union of South Africa). According to Holmes,2 there are about 600

species of the genus Pelargonium in the Cape Province, many of which

possess an agreeable odor. During the last years of the seventeenth

century 1690),cuttings were exported to Europe (particularly to Kew

Gardens in England), where they were crossed and hybridized in botanical

institutes, greenhouses. and private gardens. It seems probable that all

the species and varieties of Pelargonium, which yield the various types

of commercial geranium oils i.e.. the Réunion, Algerian, Moroccan,

Belgian Congo, Spanish, French, Corsican, and East African oils) are

descendants of the hybrids created in Europe and re-exported,

particularly from Southern France, to the colonies.

 

The theory of hybridization would explain the difficulty of germinating

the seeds of the Pelargonium plants. Moreover, when germination is

actually attained, the new plants do not grow true to their parent

plants, but develop into " sports.' or different varieties. For this

reason commercial propagation of Pelargonium is now effected by

means of cuttings.

 

The parent plant of all Pelorgium varieties and strains used today for

the commercial production of geranium oil seems to be P graveolens Ait.

For the sake of simplicity we shall refer to the essential oil derived

from this plant simply as oil of geranium, the name by which it has been

known to the trade for many years.

 

Owing to its agreeable and very pronounced strong rose-like odor, oil of

geranium is one of the most important ingredients in perfumery. If pure,

the oil is almost a perfume by itself and blends well into all kinds of

scents floral as well as oriental. Being stable and lasting, even in a

slightly alkaline medium, the oil is widely used in the scouting of

soaps.

 

Because of its importance many attempts have heen made to produce

geranium oil in various parts or the world, but not all of those have

been successful.

 

Commercial production of the oil from plantations was started in the

Grasse region of Southern France, during the first decade to the

nineteenth century. In 1847 plants were exported from there to newly

conquered Algeria, and slowly a new geranium oil industry developed in

the fertile plain of Mitidjia. About 1880, plants from the Grasse

region were transferred to the island of Reunion in the southwestern

Indian Ocean whence the bulk of geranium oil originates today. Small

quantitre have been produced in Spain, Corsica, and Madagascar.

 

At present, efforts are being made to develop a geranium Oil industry in

Morocco, the Belgian Congo, East Africa, and the southern part of USSR.

Substantial quantities of these oils, more or less of good quality have

reached the world markets, and a few of these types will undoubtedly

attain considerable commercial importance. In recent years great change

have taken place in the geranium oil industry, and production has

gradually shifted from region to region, the changes being caused by the

prices of the oil on the world market and by economic conditions in the

production areas.

 

Guenther IV, page 671-672.

Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, Inc

Krieger Drive

Malabar, Florida 32950

1950

SBN 0-88275-074-7

 

Now .. since then, the Chinese have began to distill a wild growing

Pelargonium graveolens .. but in my opinion, the finest Pelargonium

roseum is from Madagascar.

 

But remember .. and you'll remain confused .. ;-p The Rose Geranium is

a variety of scented leaf geranium .. its not a true geranium, its a

Pelargonium.

 

Rose Geranium is a P. graveolens or P. roseum. Another fancy smeller is

P. crispum .. Lemon Geranium. We could say that all Rose Geraniums are

geraniums, but not all geraniums are Rose Geraniums .. same applies for

the other sweet smelling geraniums. There are hundreds of fragrant

smelling geraniums .. Pelargoniums .. but NONE of them are from the

genus Geranium. Confused yet? No? Then I failed. ;-p

 

When I buy a Pelargonium .. I am looking for chemical constituents and

odor .. that's important enough for me because even the botanists will

sit around and argue about the Pelargonium and Geranium genus.

 

What you gotta be careful about in Rose Geranium ... and moreso in Rose

Otto .. is adulteration with Phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) .. makes it

smell a lot better. But you can catch it in a GC or GC/MS.

 

Feller was passing out samples of a Balkan Rose Otto last year .. I got

one and when I smelled it, first thing I did was gag ... it would knock

a maggot off a gut wagon .. smelled like acetone. I had my friend, Dr.

Professor Baser test it and it was around 67% PEA .. which costs around

$10 a pound.

 

Then you got folks trying to pass off Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii) as

Rose Geranium .. which isn't a lot different than folks taking advantage

of other folks who get hung up on Common Names and sell Amyris (Amyris

balsamifera) by one of its common names .. West Indian Sandalwood .. or

worse than that, as Santalum album .. it ain't no danged Sandalwood!!

 

Ask your supplier questions cause different suppliers use different

terms to designate different things .. and don't be surprised if they

don't know. You can usually tell they don't know when they start to

talk the humma-humma and dance the schuffle-schuffle. Ask if:

 

1. Are they using a common name/synonym for Pelargonium graveolens?

 

2) Do they know that Rose Geranium isa common name for Pelargonium

roseum, which is a distinct variety .. NOT a synonym for Pelargonium

graveolens.

 

As for the plants themselves, the scented varieties of pelargoniums will

generally have darker coloured, curled and narrow leaves where the

bitter-smelling Pelargoniums (house or pot plants) gemerally have much

more rounded leaves.

 

Now .. don't believe everything I wrote .. ;-p But believe this:

 

Rose Geranium (Bourbon) ... P graveolens or P. x asperum; P. roseum ..

over 250 species with thousands of varieties and clones. No precise

botanical nomenclature for commercial sources .. meaning, what I have

told you is useless but I ain't writing no book on it. ;-)

 

> Thanks all,

> Carmen

 

Welcome you are. If I can confuse y'all again, just holler .. ;-P

 

> p.s. I suppose an introduction is in order. Natural soapmaker

> delving into essential oils and their therapeutic values and benefits.

> I see aromatherapy in my future, too.

 

Good show .. if you can learn aromatherapy from the right folks - if

not, then don't feel too bad or alone cause you'll be with the masses.

A reference book contains references .. but references to previously

published books that contain no references does not make a reference

book - it makes a novel. Most aromatherapy teachers use the novels as

a basis for the continuation of misinformation, disinformation, urban

rumor .. and worse yet, plain old greedy marketing hype .. :-(

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com