Wild volatile-oil plants and their economic importance

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Identifier: wildvolatileoilp235raba (find matches)
Title: Wild volatile-oil plants and their economic importance
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Rabak, Frank
Subjects: Artemisia frigida Artemisia frigida Persea Persea Essences and essential oils
Publisher: Washington : G.P.O.
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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nyhills which are practically waste lands and which require but littlemoisture, it would seem that the plant could be cultivated in varioussections of the Northwestern States. SWAMP BAY. BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION AND DISTRIBUTION. Persea pubescens (Pursh.) Sarg., commonly known as swamp redbay or swamp bay (figs. 5 and 6), is an aromatic evergreen tree attain-ing a height of 30 feet or more, but usually occurring as a shrub.The leaves and twigs of the tree possess a pleasant camphoraceous 30 WILD VOLATILE-OIL PLANTS. odor. The swamp bay occurs abundantly in swamps and hammocksfrom North Carolina to Florida and Texas. The tree is a memberof the family Lauracese, to which the camphor tree belongs. DISTILLATION OF THE OIL. Because of the strong camphoraceous odor and its close relationshipto the camphor tree, the extraction and possible utilization of the oilfrom this wild aromatic plant suggested itself. Accordingly, duringthe summer of 1910, with the assistance of Mr. S. C. Hood, in charge
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Fig. 6.—A small branch of swamp bay. of the station at Orange City, Fla., a small quantity of the leaves andtwigs of this plant was distilled and a yield of about 0.2 per cent ofoil was obtained. But with proper conditions and precautions theyield could no doubt be very materially increased, depending largelyupon the time at which the distillation is made, and also upon theproportion of twigs and branches included. The above distillationwas made late in the summer, long after the blossoming period, thestage at which a plant is usually most productive in volatile oils, andthe material also contained many branches and much woody matter. SWAMP BAY. 31 The oil obtained was pale yellowish brown in color, with a stronglyaromatic and eamphoraceous odor, and a persistent bitter, slightlypungent, and camphorlike taste. The specific gravity at 25° C. was0.9272; specific rotation, AD=+22.4°: refraction, ND 25°=1.4695.The oil was soluble in one-third its volume of 80 per cent alcohol,becomin

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