Chamaecyparis Obtusa

#### Chamaecyparis Obtusa. Two important essential oils are distilled from the cypress-like tree, **Chamaecyparis**** ****Obtusa:**** ****Hinoki Root Oil and Hinoki Leaf Oil**. The tree grows abundantly wild and replanted in the southern parts of Japan and in Formosa. - **Hinoki Root Oil **used to be distilled in substantial quantities. Prior to World War II about 600 metric tons were distilled annually. Production has now dropped to about 30 tons in Japan per year. The oil is produced by steam distillation of the roots which are chopped but not always dried prior to distillation. **Hinoki Root Oil **is a pale yellow liquid of dry, woody, camphoraceous odor with a peculiar warm-sweet, almost spicy undertone. The oil consists almost entirely of terpineol, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The presence of isoborneol should have been proved according to some scientists. This would be one of the very rare cases where isoborneol is identified in nature. **Hinoki**** ****Root**** **Oil is used locally for low-cost soap perfumes, for industrial perfumes, insecticides, etc. It is also widely employed for mineral flotation in the local mining industry. There are two distinctly different types of **Hinoki**** ****Root**** **oils or, more correctly there is an extracted **Hinoki Wood Oil **which is produced in a similar way as described under **Pine**** ****Oil**. The **Formosan**** ****Hinoki**** ****Root**** **Oil is more important since it contains significant quantities of terpineol. The two oils are rarely exported in quantity and they do not offer new or unusual perfume effects to the perfume industry in other parts of the world. - **Hinoki**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**** **is steam distilled from the leaves of the above mentioned cypress-like tree. The yield of oil is much smaller than that from the roots. The 1958-production in Japan was about 20 metric tons. The oil is also produced in Formosa where a related tree yields another essential oil. The latter is occasionally called **Hayata Oil, **see monograph on **Machilus Oil **(from leaf). There seems to be some confusion of the two oils outside of the country of origin. **Hinoki Leaf Oil **is a yellowish liquid with an intensely strong, camphoraceous, fresh pine-like and somewhat green odor. The odor is distinctly fresher than that from the root oil but also "lighter" of type. The leaf oil resembles the root oil in its heavy-sweet undertone. **Hinoki**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**** **has no importance in perfumery outside of its countries of origin where it finds use in soaps, detergents, industrial perfumes, etc.