Oleo Vermelho

#### Oleo Vermelho. Years ago, an essential oil was distilled in Japan from the wood of a local tree, **Myrospermum**** ****Erythroxylon**. The oil was available in Europe prior to World War II, but the author has been unable to obtain recent samples of this oil. It is known, however, that Japanese farmer-settlers in Brazil have brought the tree along with them to that country. Other Japanese perfume plants have initiated a very prosperous agricultural industry in Brazil (comp. mentha arvensis, etc.). **Myrospermum Erythroxylon **is originally a "precious-wood" tree, locally called "**Rosewood**" (see summary of so-called rosewoods in the monograph **Bois de Rose Oil**). But this Japanese tree yields a truly fragrant wood, and the essential oil has been used along with cedarwood and sandalwood in "Oriental" perfumes, etc. More recently, the oil has served as a source for the isolation of the sesquiterpene alcohol **Nerolidol **which is used in perfumery. Since steam distillation of this high-boiling essential oil involves some difficulties, the method of solvent extraction has also been applied to the chopped wood (compare **Sandalwood Oil**, **Australasian**). The author has no personal experience with the application of **Oleo**** ****Vermelho**, and it is conceivable that the oil may not reappear on the international perfume market. Nerolidol is now produced synthetically at a competitive price, and the oil of myrospermum erythroxylon has little to offer beyond the effect of its nerolidol. See also **Cabreuva**** ****Oil**, and **Melaleuca Viridiflora**, variety "A".