Rosemary Oil By Shanker Neo & Fragrances

Rosmarinus (meaning 'dew of the sea') is a genus of three species of hardy and half-hardy evergreen flowering shrubs. Rosmarinus officinalis is native to the Mediterranean but now grows in many other warm countries such as Spain and Tunisia; it dies if exposed to cold winds and frost in Britain. The leaves are linear (rather similar to those of lavender), dark on top and paler beneath, and the flowers are pale blue, tubular and borne in axillary clusters; both flowers and leaves are very strongly aromatic and it seems the calyxes retain most of the volatile principles. The plant can grow to a height of about 1.8 m (6 ft).
Rosemary is probably one of the best known and most used of aromatic herbs. The Ancient Egyptians favoured it, and traces of it have been found in First Dynasty tombs. To the Greeks and Romans it was a sacred plant, and Horace, the Roman poet, composed odes to its magic properties. Both Greeks and Romans believed rosemary symbolized love and death, and this is echoed in later traditional country associations with weddings and funerals. Brides used to wear rosemary entwined in their bouquets; bridesmaids would give rosemary to the groom, and other guests would receive it too as a symbol of loyalty and love.