Cade Essential Oil
Cade, commonly known as Prickly Juniper, Cade Juniper, or Prickly Cedar, is a species of juniper, very variable in shape, forming a spreading shrub 2-3 m tall to a small erect tree 10-15 m tall. It is distributed across the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal, north to southern France, east to westernmost Iran, and south to Israel, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level up to 1600 m altitude.
Prickly Juniper has needle-like leaves in whorls of three; the leaves are green, 5-20 mm long and 1-2 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface. It is usually dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed cones are berry-like, green ripening in 18 months to orange-red with a variable pink waxy coating; they are spherical, 7-12 mm diameter, and have three or six fused scales in 1-2 whorls, three of the scales with a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard seeds in their droppings. The male cones are yellow, 2-3 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in February-March.
The essential oil is obtained by destructive distillation from the branches and heartwood. Native to southern France; now common throughout Europe and North Africa. It is now produced mainly in Spain and in the former Yugoslavia. An essential oil by steam distillation is also available.
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Properties, Indications
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Properties: Skin disease, eczema and sever dandruff. (1)
Indicated for: Bad skin and greasy hair. (1)
Uses: In therapeutic soaps for chronic eczema. Used in ointments and salves for a variety of skin problems, including psoriasis. (1)
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| Toxicity: | LD50 - (oral) rat >g/kg; (dermal) rabbit >g/kg.
Irritation/Sensitisation - not known
Phototoxicity - Nil reported |
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