lē, pəch
`lē), fragrant shrubby East Indian plant (Pogostemon cablin or P. patchouli) of the family Labiatae (mint mint, in botany, common name for members of the Labiatae, a large family of chiefly annual or perennial herbs. Several species are shrubby or climbing forms or, rarely, small trees...... Click the link for more information. family). It is the source of a perfume oil, also called patchouli, distilled from the leaves. In its native Indomalesian region it has been used also as an insecticide and leech repellent and to soothe menstrual cramps. Patchouli is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales, family Labiatae.
Patchouli
(Pogostemon patehouli, or Mentha cablin), a tropical plant of the family Labiatae. Patchouli is a subshrub with a height and diameter of 70–100 cm. The roots are fibrous. The opposite leaves are broadly ovate, dentate, and fragrant. The white or pale lilac flowers are gathered into racemes, each having ten to 15 whorls. The corolla measures 8.5–10 mm across. The fruits are nutlets. For good growth, the temperature should be higher than 20°C (at temperatures below 0°C the plant freezes), and the soil should have a high moisture content.
Patchouli is native to the Philippines. It is cultivated on the tropical islands of Java, Sumatra, Réunion, Singapore, the Seychelles, and the Philippines. In the Abkhazian ASSR the plant is raised as an annual by rooting cuttings in greenhouses and planting seedlings in the ground. It is cultivated for the essential oil contained in the green or dried mass; the oil is used in perfume. The green mass contains 0.25 percent oil, the principal components of which are patchouli alcohol and sesquiterpene. In India, patchouli oil is used for therapeutic purposes.
The plant is harvested in mid-October. The average yield of green mass is 4 tons per hectare (up to 10 kg of essential oil). A similar species is P. hegneanus.
REFERENCES
Volkhovskaia, U. V., and E. S. Milianovskii. Agrotekhnika pachuli. Sukhumi, 1957.Efiromaslichnye kul’tury. Moscow, 1963.
U. V. VOLKHOVSKAIA
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