Grouping Essential Oils

lemon_peel

An interesting approach to combining essential oils was published by Valerie Ann Worwood in her book The Fragrant Mind, where she found that many people naturally gravitated to a particular group of similar oils, which she has dubbed "Aroma Genera". By combining several oils from a similar group of oils, for example, fruits, herbs or resins, the result was very pleasing.

Some essential oils can be in more than one group; for example black pepper, cardamom and clove are in both the "fruities" group and the "spicies" group, since the essential oil is in fact extracted from the fruit of these spice plants.

Grouping Essential Oils
	Florals
	This section contains the most absolutes - essential oils that cannot be extracted by steam distillation.
	carnation, chamomile (German), chamomile (Roman), champaca, helichrysum (immortelle), hyacinth, jasmine, lavender, lemon blossom, linden blossom, neroli, rose marroc, rose otto, ylang ylang
	Fruities
	Essential oil is extracted from the fruit.
	bergamot, black pepper, cardamom, clove, cubebs, grapefruit, hops, juniper berry, lemon, lime, litsea cubeba (may chang), mandarin, orange, tangerine, vanilla
	Herbies
	The majority are distilled from the flowering tops or whole plant.
	basil, chamomile (German), chamomile (Roman), clary sage, geranium, hyssop, lavender, marjoram, melissa, peppermint, spearmint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, yarrow
	Leafies
	The extraction of leafies sometimes includes the twigs and stems.
	bay, birch, buchu, cajeput, cinnamon leaf, cistus (rock rose), cypress, eucalyptus, fir, myrtle, patchouli, petitgrain, ravensara, spruce (black), spruce (white), tea tree, violet leaf
	Resinies
	From the resins or balsam that exudes from trees or shrubs.
	benzoin, Canadian balsam, tolu balsam, elemi, frankincense, galbanham, myrrh, opopanax, styrax levant
	Rooties
	Extracted from the roots of plants.
	angelica, galangal, ginger, orris, spikenard, tumeric, valerian, vetiver
	Seedies
	Extracted from the seeds of plants.
	ambrette seed, angelica seed, anise (star), aniseed, caraway, carrot seed, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel (sweet), nutmeg, parsley seed
	Spicies
	Mostly taken from seeds and fruits, these oils are also categorized under those groups.
	anise (star), aniseed, black pepper, cardamom, caraway, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cubebs, cumin, ginger, mace, nutmeg, pimento berry
	Woodies
	Extracted from twigs, wood, or shaving from trees.
	amyris, camphor white, cedarwood (Atlas), cedarwood (Virginian), linaloe, pine, rosewood, sandalwood, spruce (black), spruce (white)