Re: Lican oil

[Guest guest]

On 01/09/06, ambientgravity33 <tisserand@...> wrote:

> I have seen " lican oil " offered on several websites, as an essential oil

cold-pressed from a

> herb. The botanical name is always given as " lichenperiata " . Surely there are

no essential

> oils that are cold-pressed from herbs, and all botanical names are binomial -

there are

> two words, not one. So I'm puzzled and confused. Does anyone know what this

is?

>

> Tisserand

Hi

I searched for Lican oil and found a reference to CHHARILA(LICAN)OLEO

so searched for CHHARILA OLEO. This lead me to Parmelia Perlata.

http://www.rakeshin.com/prod05.htm

Could this be the oil referred to?

HTH

LLx

[Guest guest]

> I have seen " lican oil " offered on several websites, as an essential

oil cold-pressed from a

> herb. The botanical name is always given as " lichenperiata " . Surely

there are no essential

> oils that are cold-pressed from herbs, and all botanical names are

binomial - there are

> two words, not one. So I'm puzzled and confused. Does anyone know

what this is?

>

> Tisserand

Hi,

I have this oil, smells very much like some kind of moss. I got it from

New Directions. Have also wondered about this, so I emailed them a

couple of weeks ago and they promised to chase it up with their

supplier. Will post any reply I get from them here.

Boris

[Guest guest]

Edited to correct top post.....

> I have seen " lican oil " offered on several websites, as an essential

oil cold-pressed from a

> herb. The botanical name is always given as " lichenperiata " . Surely

there are no essential

> oils that are cold-pressed from herbs, and all botanical names are

binomial - there are

> two words, not one. So I'm puzzled and confused. Does anyone know

what this is?

>

> Tisserand

Hi,

I have this oil, smells very much like some kind of moss. I got it from

New Directions. Have also wondered about this, so I emailed them a

couple of weeks ago and they promised to chase it up with their

supplier. Will post any reply I get from them here.

Boris

I looked up Lichen periata, and found what seems to me(on a " scan " of the

document) that it may be an Oak moss from Surrey (I don't know where that is

) If it truly is Lichen, then it is a moss of some kind.

And since I know just enough to get me in to trouble I truly can't say if I

m right or if I'm wrong, but on first glance I think I remember from

Highschool Biology that anything with Lichen in the name is a type of moss

(ish) entity growing on other plants and stuff for sustenance.

[Guest guest]

At 04:06 AM 9/1/2006, you wrote:

>Hi

>I searched for Lican oil and found a reference to CHHARILA(LICAN)OLEO

>so searched for CHHARILA OLEO. This lead me to Parmelia Perlata.

> http://www.rakeshin.com/prod05.htm

>Could this be the oil referred to?

Liz,

http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/aboutayurveda/cahp.htm Scroll down for

Parmela peralta.

Anya

http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

[Guest guest]

All this lichen talk has me sentimental for a perfume oil I got in Berkeley

in '72. It was in a little round bottle, maybe 5 ml, with a round paper tag

label attached on a string around the neck. I still have a smidgen of

" Alpine Lichen " . I believe the perfumer's name was something.

It had two separate layers -- a titration. You had to shake it, of course,

before use, and the light, slightly mossy, slightly woody/herbal oil had a

sweet topnote that was very minty, smelled like spearmint. A lichen is a

symbiotic relationship between an algae and a moss (botanist hat on) so at

the time I truly believed it was a distilled lichen because of the

titration. Still don't know if there was perfume " oil " in there -- it

smells very natural. Oh, how I searched for more of it, never found it.

Does the oil you got have two layers? Does it have a slight spearmint note?

Anya

http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

[Guest guest]

> > I have seen " lican oil " offered on several websites, as an essential

> oil cold-pressed from a

> > herb. The botanical name is always given as " lichenperiata " .

Tisserand

>

> I have this oil, smells very much like some kind of moss. I got it from

> New Directions.

Boris

>

> I looked up Lichen periata, and found what seems to me(on a " scan " of the

> document) that it may be an Oak moss from Surrey (I don't know where that is

> ) If it truly is Lichen, then it is a moss of some kind.

>

>Hi

>I searched for Lican oil and found a reference to CHHARILA(LICAN)OLEO

>so searched for CHHARILA OLEO. This lead me to Parmelia Perlata.

> http://www.rakeshin.com/prod05.htm

>Could this be the oil referred to?

Liz,

http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/aboutayurveda/cahp.htm Scroll down for

Parmelia perlata.

Anya

OK, so the plant is called Parmelia perlata, also known as stone flower, or

lican. Like

oakmoss it is a lichen, not a moss, and the essential oil smells mossy. It was

coming out of

Australia, but is now coming from Surrey, in England, but that quality is not

very good.

Boris, does the sample you have seem like an absolute or a distilled oil?

Tisserand

[Guest guest]

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of ambientgravity33

Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:18 PM

Subject: Lican oil

I have seen " lican oil " offered on several websites, as an essential

oil cold-pressed from a

herb. The botanical name is always given as " lichenperiata " . Surely

there are no essential

oils that are cold-pressed from herbs, and all botanical names are

binomial - there are

two words, not one. So I'm puzzled and confused. Does anyone know

what this is?

Tisserand

Good morning , others interested,

Parmelia periata (known commonly as lichenperiata, cherela (Charila in

Hindi) or yellow lichin, is found in many E. Indian Ayurvedic tonic health

formulas such as Lububaat, a long-term sex problem preparation. I have only

seen it as a dried herb. It could be an infused oil that these sites are

referring to.

Be Well,

Marcia Elston http://www.wingedseed.com

" Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. " Hausa Saying from

Nigeria

[Guest guest]

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Anya

Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 7:36 AM

Subject: Re: Lican oil

All this lichen talk has me sentimental for a perfume oil I got in

Berkeley

in '72. It was in a little round bottle, maybe 5 ml, with a round

paper tag

label attached on a string around the neck. I still have a smidgen

of

" Alpine Lichen " . I believe the perfumer's name was

something.

Hi Anya, , Liz,

I've long wanted to learn more about the wonderful lichen and mosses here in

the PNW and I've been able to find a bit of time for some experimenting with

bryophytes here in the PNW rainforest to see what I might tincture for

aromatics . . . Nothing earth-shaking to report yet, but I will share

samples when I think we've got something good. Meanwhile, I think I've also

located a neighboring non-neutered goat herd to approach for some musky

experiments. :-)

Be Well,

Marcia Elston http://www.wingedseed.com

" Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. " Hausa Saying from

Nigeria

[Guest guest]

> Boris, does the sample you have seem like an absolute or a distilled

oil?

>

> Tisserand

> Boris, does the sample you have seem like an absolute or a distilled

oil?

>

> Tisserand

Hello and the rest of the sleuths,

I have no idea, to be honest. However, my gut feeling is that it is NOT

distilled. I have compared the following that I have:

1. Lican oil from New Directions

2. Evernia Prunastri resinoid 50% from a Swedish supplier

3. Evernia Prunastri absolute from Essential Oil University

I have dabbed a little of each on a piece of paper and you can hopefully

see the difference in consistency and texture - I just had access to my

mobile phone camera, so the photo is as good as it gets.

I have uploaded a photo here:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=231388063 & size=o

<http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=231388063 & size=o>

Lican is very light in colour, and more subtle in fragrance than the

other two, but still very similar to them. It is thicker than the

absolute I have, almost the same consistency as the resinoid. It does

have somewhat of a " spearmint note " as Anya suggested. I am not sure

about the two layers, as I can not see through the bottle due to the

label being stuck all around it.

Surely with so many questions, New Directions must get to the bottom of

this soon.

All the best,

Boris

[Guest guest]

At 07:55 PM 9/1/2006, you wrote:

>I have uploaded a photo here:

>

>http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=231388063 & size=o

><http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=231388063 & size=o>

>

>Lican is very light in colour, and more subtle in fragrance than the

>other two, but still very similar to them. It is thicker than the

>absolute I have, almost the same consistency as the resinoid. It does

>have somewhat of a " spearmint note " as Anya suggested. I am not sure

>about the two layers, as I can not see through the bottle due to the

>label being stuck all around it.

Ah...ah...ah.....must have! Pour it into another bottle so you can see! I

beseech you...ah...ah..ah. This may be the holy grail I've been looking

for for over 30 years. Yes, it had a thick consistency, and the spearmint note.

Next, somebody will find me the Ferula sumbul EO.

Be still my heart.

>

Anya

http://anyasgarden.com/perfumes.htm Parfums Natural

http://artisannaturalperfumers.com The Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild

http://.com The Premier Natural Perfume Site Gateway

[Guest guest]

> Ah...ah...ah.....must have! Pour it into another bottle so you can see! I

> beseech you...ah...ah..ah. This may be the holy grail I've been looking

> for for over 30 years. Yes, it had a thick consistency, and the spearmint

note.

>

> Next, somebody will find me the Ferula sumbul EO.

>

> Be still my heart.>

> Anya

However, my gut feeling is that it is NOT

> distilled.

All the best,

> Boris

>

Nice pic Boris!

I first noticed Lican oil on the Well, Naturally site (was it only yesterday?) -

Anya, you

probably know these folks..

They say (as do others) that lican is cold-pressed, so maybe it is a very

aromatic fatty oil.

Boris - does it feel greasy?

I hope this is indeed your holy grail Anya - maybe will go well with goat hair :

)

Tisserand

[Guest guest]

>A lichen is a symbiotic relationship between an algae and a moss

Ok - I can't keep from butting in, and sorry for doing so merely in correcting

what was

probably just a typo, given your botanical training.

This one falls squarely into my area of expertise, being a former mycologist.

LIchens are

actually formed when a FUNGUS and an alga form a mutualistic symbiosis. The

fungus is

often a type of " cup fungus " or discomycete. The fungi and the plants (and as

in this case,

the algae) often pair up like this to their mutual benefit - mycorrhizal

relationships in

forests, mosses pair up with certain mushrooms, and, of course, the lichens. I

use a little

trick to help my students remember this, a story which basically boils down to

Freddy

Fungus and Alice Alga taking a LICHEN (ha ha) to each other. No, I didn't coin

this one.

Now, back to perfume: what is intiguing about the various oakmoss/treemoss,

etc. oils is

their fungal origin - not many perfume raw materials coming from fungi, are

there?

I mean, there are the porcini or cepes extractions, probably someone has used

some

truffle oils of some kind, and then the various lichens.

Can anyone think of any other aromatic preparations from fungi? I don't recall

with

agarwood - is it a fungus or a bacterium that's involved? I seem to recall that

a mycologist

( Blanchette?) has been working on inducing agarwood formation, so I am

guessing

it is a fungus.

In the mushroom lab, we always used odor as a characteristic when identifying

certain

groups of fungi (we even had one of those wine odor wheel classification systems

to help

us be bit less subjective in our description of aromas). There are fungi that

smell like

chlorine, cream-of-wheat, shrimp, almond oil, patchouli/cinnamon (matsutake),

and a

number of far less pleasant things I prefer not to mention.

I think the fungus kingdom has been under-utilized in aromatic creations (the

fungi

probably aren't complaining) so I have to give the Evernia and other lichens a

" fungal high

five " when the chance to educate presents itself!

[Guest guest]

I think the fungus kingdom has been under-utilized in aromatic creations

(the fungi

probably aren't complaining) so I have to give the Evernia and other lichens

a " fungal high

five " when the chance to educate presents itself!

Do you think it's because well (some of the " not so nice " smells they

carry)?

I mean yes there is a place for Scatological smells in perfumery, but Me

being highly allergic to most (wood fungus/molds) would have a hard time

using anything that has been expressed/tinctured/distilled from some of the

more " pungent " woods/fungi/molds and I think that " fungi " have gotten a bad

wrap pretty much outside of the food market, and the illicit drug market.

I think that the the distillers/pressers should look into it though,

because what smells more like earth than some of the wondrous fungi and

think of how that would open the natural perfume market to a new world of

opportunities, and how awesome would that be as a note in a perfume...

[Guest guest]

>

>

>

>

> <There are fungi that smell like

> chlorine, cream-of-wheat, shrimp, almond oil, patchouli/cinnamon

(matsutake), and a

> number of far less pleasant things I prefer not to mention.>

>

> That's interesting because I've always thought that the common

button mushrooms that you buy in supermarkets smell " fishy " when they

go bad. That one that smells like patchouli/cinnamon sounds intrigueing.

If you don't want to say it, I will(I have a knack for saying what

people are thinking but dont want to say-I " go there " ), some mushrooms

smell like body funk! Especially truffles. The first time I

smelled/tasted a truffle product(I've never actually had an actual

truffle), I was like " ooohhh, hmmm, whoa, my god this reminds me of... " .

Okay, so maybe I won't quite go there after all!