White Champaca (Michelia champaca (alba)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 02/07/2003 2:41:35 AM Central Standard Time,

butchbsi writes:

 

 

> >And to you .. but lemme tell you something .. aside from Rose Otto, my

> olfactory system alerts .. and makes me grin .. to an odor you have all

> around you. One that was so fine I brought a stick back with me when I

> left Hawaii in 1975 and grew a tree indoors .. left the tree with my

> mother when I went overseas .. collected it on return. I am talking

> about Plumeria .. or Frangipani .. the flower commonly used in Leis.

> Botanical Name is Plumeria rubra ..............

>

> Hi All, This on one of the plants " trees " I brought with me when I moved

> from So. Fla. to the Fla. panhandle. Brought all three, pink, nice flowery

> smell, white, it's nice too, and yellow, the best smelling of the three,

> kinda spicy and sweet. And, although they grew into trees in the just

> tropical environment of So. Fla., they just couldn't make it here. That

> and my Stephanotis plant, which is the flower used a lot in wedding

> flowers, are two of my favorite plants that I just can't get to grow here.

> I love the smell of Plumeria and I have only found one, the fragrance oil,

> that I liked so far. It's made by Chemessence, a company I don't really

> like to do any business with ( for personal reasons ) but it's the only one

> that is even a reasonable facsimile of the real thing. I'v tried

> Lebermuth's Plumeria and Frangipani but they just are not capturing the

> smell I remember and like. Deonia

 

He never said it would be easy.........He only said it would be worth it..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

At 10:44 AM 2/7/2003 -0800, you wrote:

 

>And to you .. but lemme tell you something .. aside from Rose Otto, my

>olfactory system alerts .. and makes me grin .. to an odor you have all

>around you. One that was so fine I brought a stick back with me when I

>left Hawaii in 1975 and grew a tree indoors .. left the tree with my

>mother when I went overseas .. collected it on return. I am talking

>about Plumeria .. or Frangipani .. the flower commonly used in Leis.

>Botanical Name is Plumeria rubra .. and it ain't cheap .. like maybe

>$1,400 - $1,500 a pound for the finest Absolute .. which is much less

>than some of my oils cost. Anyway .. I have none now and it is on my

>list of oils to get like real soon. :-P

 

Butch, there are many 'scent families' in the fragipani genus. Some are:

plumeria-like and they can vary from mild to strong, clove, sweet floral,

spicy, and my favorite, ripe peaches. I have a gorgeous Aztec Gold fragi in

my front yard, and I made lots of 3' cuttings of it a few months ago, and

they will go to valued friends. One sprig of those flowers in a vase can

perfume a room like it's peach canning season.

 

I have no Plumeria absolute, mainly due to fear of fraud, and the price. I

do, however, intend to macerate the ripe peach flowers this year when they

bloom madly in May/June. I didn't last year due to personal and

professional pressures, but this year, I'm harvesting those puppies and

capturing the scent.

 

I do also have the P. rubra with a moderate fragi scent, but it pales next

to my peachy one :-)http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

©

[Guest guest]

Hi Asira,

 

Was tough cause I didn't have a Botanical Name and there is more than

one possibility. Long afore most of us were born .. Jean Rose wrote

" Champaca oil or Champa oil is obtained by extracting Michelia champaca,

a lovely flower that is deep yellow in color. Champaca is native to

Indonesia and the Phillipines and has been grown in similar areas. An

infused oil is made from the flowers and used in massage and as a hair

dressing. The absolute is obtained by extraction and this expensive

product is sometimes cut with Ylang-Ylang, which is somewhat cheaper in

price. Champaca oil has a warm, lucious odor and mixes well with

Sandalwood. The oil diluted with Calendula infused oil can be used in

massage or when mixed with essential oils used as perfume. "

 

The confusion with the Common Name is that there are two oils called

Champaca .. one is the rare and expensive Absolute mentioned above, and

the other is a lower priced VERY thick Absolute obtained from Guaicac

Wood/Gaiac Wood (Bulnesia sarmienti) .. which also smells GREAT.

 

To add to the confusion: Gaiac Wood (Bulnesia sarmienti) is also called

Champaca Wood, and another Gaiac Wood (Guaiacum officinale) is a horse

of a different color. To confuse a bit more, Gaiac Wood is a Common

Name for Lignum sanctum or Lignum vitae .. also an Absolute with a very

fine odor but very hard to work with cause it ain't just thick, it's

purt'near solid. Far as I can determine, though all the Common Names

are out and about .. none of them are related to Michelia champaca,

which the Champaca flower absolute you asked about. But they're called

Gaiac Wood and I hope I have made my point about avoiding Common Names

unless we can follow them with a Botanical Name. ;-p

 

> Okay,

> Pak Lan didn't get much of a rise from this group, save for Anya

> kindly directing me to Aloha Tropicals...

> My research has led me to learn that a more commonly used name for the

> same tree is White Champaca. It is supposedly used for " Joy perfume,

> the most expensive perfume in the world. " So, it is coveted.

 

Yep. No history of use in AT .. but I expect it could sooth the heart

if one liked it .. which is really therapeutic.. as is the odor of fresh

coffee .. and chocolate. I'm serious .. there is therapeutic value in

both of these .. and many other non-EO aromatics.

 

> Does anyone have anything to share about it as an EO?

 

Its not an Essential Oil (EO) .. its an Absolute. Obviously, the

blossoms don't handle distillation.

 

> It's uses?

 

They make Joy Perfume from it. ;-p

 

> Resources?

 

If you mean where can we find it .. I don't know of any dealer who has

it but if you go to http://www.dogpile.com and type in White Champaca

you'll find a lot of so-called exotic dealers .. problem is, like I've

said above, odds are good they cut it with Ylang Ylang.

 

> I know it's of Southeast Asian origins... Butch! In your vast travels

> and experience, have you run across it much?

 

Might have smelled it around Subic Bay, Philippines .. but not as a

commercial perfume .. the little gals there bought lots of natural oils

from natural perfume shops and drowned themselves in it. I can't say

for sure I smelled it but odds are I did as they have some really great

aromas in those shops .. mostly natives of the Philippines.

 

> Aloha,

> Asira

 

And to you .. but lemme tell you something .. aside from Rose Otto, my

olfactory system alerts .. and makes me grin .. to an odor you have all

around you. One that was so fine I brought a stick back with me when I

left Hawaii in 1975 and grew a tree indoors .. left the tree with my

mother when I went overseas .. collected it on return. I am talking

about Plumeria .. or Frangipani .. the flower commonly used in Leis.

Botanical Name is Plumeria rubra .. and it ain't cheap .. like maybe

$1,400 - $1,500 a pound for the finest Absolute .. which is much less

than some of my oils cost. Anyway .. I have none now and it is on my

list of oils to get like real soon. :-P

 

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

 

PS: Wanna see White Champaca? http://www.mgonline.com/michele.html

[Guest guest]

Hi Butch,

You are such a wealth of information, and are so wonderfully free about

sharing it, as well!

I'm so glad to be learning about this mysterious flower/tree, Michelia alba.

It makes it even harder to drive by and acknowledge that formerly grand tree

down in Hanalei. But there are still some branches left, so I'm going to try

to air-layer it for propigation. (Try to spead it around some, like in MY

yard!!)

And I found out that the wood itself is quite useful as it has natural anti

pest qualities and is excellent for building and crafting with. What a shame

that it was all hauled off and discarded.

So much for living in " developed " countries....

 

BTW is this the same flower which the famous Indian " Nag Champa " incense is

made from?

 

I saw the SD extract(?), origin China, for sale at WhiteLotus for $26/oz. Do

you imagine it's pretty pure? Is he reputable?

 

As for Plumeria, thank you for bringing it up, lest I should take for granted

something which is, literally, right under my nose. (No pun intended.) Right

now they are looking dead, as they are going through their leafless season.

But soon, plumeria blossoms will be bountiful. I'd love to have some of

Anya's peachy one. It sounds divine.

 

Do you remember Pua Kenikeni? Another favorite for leis. I definitely don't

know the botanical name for that one right now, but I'll try to find out.

 

Aloha,

Asira

[Guest guest]

You folks are making me longing for the islands. I lived in Kaneohe for

about five years. Both my kids were born there. I don't know what the

pua kenikeni is, but we used to make the most beautiful leis from

flowers we had growing on a tree in our yard, but we called them crown

flowers. I miss the islands so much sometimes.

 

Roni

 

dingos101 wrote:

 

> Hi Butch,

> You are such a wealth of information, and are so wonderfully free about

> sharing it, as well!

> I'm so glad to be learning about this mysterious flower/tree, Michelia

> alba.

> It makes it even harder to drive by and acknowledge that formerly

> grand tree

> down in Hanalei. But there are still some branches left, so I'm going

> to try

> to air-layer it for propigation. (Try to spead it around some, like in MY

> yard!!)

> And I found out that the wood itself is quite useful as it has natural

> anti

> pest qualities and is excellent for building and crafting with. What a

> shame

> that it was all hauled off and discarded.

> So much for living in " developed " countries....

>

> BTW is this the same flower which the famous Indian " Nag Champa "

> incense is

> made from?

>

> I saw the SD extract(?), origin China, for sale at WhiteLotus for

> $26/oz. Do

> you imagine it's pretty pure? Is he reputable?

>

> As for Plumeria, thank you for bringing it up, lest I should take for

> granted

> something which is, literally, right under my nose. (No pun intended.)

> Right

> now they are looking dead, as they are going through their leafless

> season.

> But soon, plumeria blossoms will be bountiful. I'd love to have some of

> Anya's peachy one. It sounds divine.

>

> Do you remember Pua Kenikeni? Another favorite for leis. I definitely

> don't

> know the botanical name for that one right now, but I'll try to find out.

>

> Aloha,

> Asira

>

>