Labdanum

#### Labdanum. **Labdanum **is a resinous exudation from **Cistus Ladaniferus**, a small, wild-growing shrub, probably originating in the mountainous coastal regions of the eastern mediterranean countries and the Middle East. The shrub is now found in all the countries which surround the Mediterranean Sea. Before going into a monographic description of the individual products derived from this plant, a brief summary is given below: - **Labdanum**, also called **Labdanum Gum**, which is the crude or strained botanical, consists of the natural (physiological) exudation from the plant, combined with the natural resinous matter, which can be forced out of leaves and twigs of the plant in boiling water. - **Labdanum**** ****Resinoid**** **is the hydrocarbon extracted matter from the above crude ##### Labdanum. - **Labdanum**** ****“Resin**** ****Absolute”**** **is the alcohol- extracted matter from the crude botanical. This product is also called “purified labdanum”, “soluble labdanum”, “labdanum concentrate” etc. - **Labdanum Resin**. Products under this label can unfortunately be a number of things. Most often they are made up by the alcohol- insoluble portion of **Labdanum**** ****Resinoid**. Selective solvent extraction of crude labdanum with benzene, petroleum ether, alcohol, etc. will often produce a dry and hard residue. This by-product is either sold as **Labdanum Resin **or “reconditioned” with **Labdanum Resinoid **in order to produce cheaper labdanum extracts. - **Cistus**** ****Oil**. The name is misleading, since the commercial product is derived from crude **Labdanum, **not from the plant itself (see # 8). **Cistus Oil **is steam distilled from crude Spanish labdanum or, in rare cases, steam distilled from the **Absolute from Concrète**** ****of Labdanum. **The latter type of cistus oil is considered a very fine perfume material. Since the crude labdanum is often mistreated, the term “cistus” has for many decades been used to designate either 1) a better quality of labdanum or, 2) a product, derived from the plant itself, particularly from the plants grown in the South of France (Esterel etc.). - **Labdanum**** ****Concrète**** **is the hydrocarbon extract from the leaves and twigs of the above labdanum plant. It is a true concrète in accordance with the definitions in this book. - **Labdanum**** ****Absolute**** ****from**** ****Concrète**** **is the alcohol-soluble part of the above labdanum concrète. Products # 6 and 7 are thus derived from the entire plant. - **Labdanum Oil **(so-called). Under this name is sold various essential oils, produced by steam distillation of the plant material (leaves and twigs of **Cistus Ladaniferus**). Such oils could justly be called **Cistus Oils**. They are of a certain interest to the perfumer, since the true cistus oils represent the odorous characteristics of the entire plant and not exclusively those of the resinous exudation. The oil is described in this book under the monograph **Cistus Oil **(true). Spain is by far the largest producer of labdanum. Thus, the products # 1, 2, 3, 4 and *5 *are directly dependant upon the Spanish crop of labdanum “gum”. Extraction of the plant itself is carried out mainly in France, rarely in Spain. The products # 6 and 7 are thus dependant upon the French crop of cistus ladaniferus plants. These latter products usually display a green or an olive-green color, while the first *5 *products appear in various nuances of yellow, amber or brown color. “Gum” products are never green, and true concrètes are never amber colored unless they happen to be of the so-called “decolorized” type. Out of the above 8 main types of products, the Nos. 1, 2, 3, *5,** *and 7 are the most common in the trade and the most important in perfumery. The individual products derived from **Labdanum**** **(“gum”) or from the plant **Cistus**** ****Ladaniferus** are described in the following monographs: