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Camphor (Cinnamomum Camphora)
Category Wood
Strong, revitalizing and medicinal.
Camphor trees are tall and lofty and are native to the Far East (China, Formosa and Japan).They can also be found in small numbers in Southern California.China is the only country where camphor is distilled today.
Several kinds of essences as well as natural and powdered camphor are obtained through distillation of the wood and branches of a wide variety of camphor trees.These are lauraceous evergreens with white flowers and green leaves.The raw essence is filtered to separate the camphor crystals, and subsequently fractioned into four parts. The lightest fraction goes by the name of white Chinese camphor, but despite its name, the camphor content is virtually nil.
Used in industrial and technical perfumes. Also used to reconstitute essences such as lavender water, rosemary and eucalyptus.
Mild antiseptic used for gargling.If ingested in large quantities, it becomes a strong poison with hallucinatory and convulsive effects.