Cypress

Cupressus sempervirens

Native to southern Europe, cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is an evergreen tree of the Cupressaceae family that may reach forty metres.

  • Bath

  • Dermal application

  • Oral route

  • Respiratory route

Essential oil of cypress must be taken by oral route by prescription only. It must not be used pure on the skin.

Do not use in: pregnant or breast-feeding women, children under the age of three years, persons allergic to one of the components (geraniol, linalool, limonene), subjects with asthma without the advice of an allergologist before the first use, persons suffering from hormone-dependent cancer (uterus, ovary, breast, prostate).

Greasy hair
Mix 1 drop of essential oil of cypress and 2 drops of essential oil of lemon in your shampoo.

Hoarseness - Dry cough
Place 2 drops of essential oil of cypress on a neutral tablet, sugar lump or in a spoonful of honey. Take this preparation three to four times daily for three to four days.

Any congestion
Mix 3 drops of essential oil of cypress with 10 drops of calophyllum vegetable oil, two to three times daily, always massaging from the bottom to the top of the body.

Its leaves form triangular scales measuring two to six millimetres in length, arranged in pairs; they persist over two to four years. Its crown is pointed in the stricta variety or pyramidal in the pyramidalis variety. The male and female inflorescences are in the shape of cones. The female cones reach maturity eighteen to twenty four months after pollination.Like most healing plants, cypress has its own legend. Ovid mentions in his Metamorphoses, that Cyparissus, "the most beautiful mortal of the island of Cos", accidentally killed a magnificent stag while hunting. Overwhelmed, he implored the gods to make him die, he was transformed into a tree. "We will miss you, said Apollo, but you will become the tree of mourning and tombs." The cypress did not just hold this cemetery keeper role. A tablet dating from 2080 B.C., discovered in the Ur site in Chaldea, gives a receipt to a merchant for a "cypress scented oil ointment". In the 7th century B.C., the poetess Sappho, infatuated with a beautiful friend, praises "the proud scent of cypress [that she] spreads on [her] beautiful curls". And Herodotus mentions in his Inquiries that Scythian women from what is now Ukraine "grate cypress wood over a rough stone" to prepare their beauty masks.

Cultivation and production

Cupressus sempervirens grows in very different soils, its growth is rapid and lives for a long time. It is resistant to heat and can withstand bitter cold. It is cultivated in France (Provence), Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Maghreb (Algeria).

Fragance

The scent of Cupressus sempervirens oils is resinous, potent and persistent.

Extraction and yield

Essential oil of cypress is obtained by total distillation of young branches using steam distillation. The yield varies between 0.2% and 0.5%, i.e. two hundred to five hundred grams per hundred kilograms of plant.

Chemical formula

Essential oil of cypress is primarily composed of monoterpenes (delta-3-carene, pinenes) and some sesquiterpenes (approximately 10%). Cedrol is present at about 0.8% to 1%.

Main indications

Versatile, anti-infectious and anti-bacterial, essential oil of cypress is a remarkable cough suppressant. An excellent phlebotonic, it improves circulation in case of varicose veins or haemorrhoids. A venous, lymphatic, prostatic and uterine decongestant, it fights against menstrual pains or premenstrual syndrome (hyperoestrinism) and oedema. It is an excellent anti-cellulite weapon. It also balances the body in case of fatigue or asthaenia and regulates excessive transpiration. In Corsica, its leaves were used in the past as plasters on wounds and fritters were prepared "against worms".

Excerpts from the book "Aromatherapia - All about essential oils", by Isabelle Pacchioni, watercolors by Patrick MORIN, Editions Aroma Thera. Excerpts from the book "48 essential oils indispensable for healing differently" by Isabelle Delaleu and Isabelle Pacchioni, Publications of the Mandadori France group. Botanical illustrations by Agathe Haevermans.

These properties, benefits and method of use are given for information; they can not in any way constitute or substitute for medical information that only health professionals can dispense. For any use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, please consult a doctor.

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