Product Description
Scientific name: Evernia prunastri
Family: Lecanorales (Lichen) Parmeliaceae
Origin: North Europa
Oakmoss, is a lichen that grows mainly on the trunk and branches of oaks, but which can also cover conifers such as pine and fir, it is short and bushy and, growing, forms masses similar in shape to corals or deer horns.
Its color ranges in shades of green, olive green or yellow green when fresh, greenish-white when dry.
Over the centuries, Oakmoss has been used in various areas. Native Americans, for example, used it for the treatment of respiratory ailments and wounds, while the ancient Egyptians used it to make bread dough rise, a custom also preserved by Arabs and Copts.
In the mid-1800s it was used especially for the treatment of lung diseases and for its febrifugal action. In the Pharmacopoeia of 1846 it is indicated as a tonic against intestinal weakness.
Nowadays, in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia it is especially recommended for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and cough, particularly in children. The main actions of Oakmoss are, in fact, the emollient, expectorant and antiseptic. But it also has significant antibiotic, antiviral, allergenic and, according to recent studies, anticancer properties.
For its intense and complex aroma, it is widely used in aromatherapy, taking advantage of its relaxing, tonic and anti-stress properties, and in perfumery, as a fixative and to give greater sensuality and depth to fragrances. Its aroma is both acrid and a little sweet, herbaceous, earthy and brackish. It is very reminiscent of pheromones, in the right proportions it recalls the smell of the skin, and therefore it is able to stimulate the most primitive part of our being, resulting in an excellent aphrodisiac and tonic.
On coals it gives a first sweetish and then acrid and earthy aroma. It gives your blends a “primitive” atmosphere that will help you connect with earthly energies.
