Re: Re: OT-CHAT: Iris fragrance

From: Mike Lowe <mlowe@worldiris.com>

Char Randall and Anner write...

><< I was told to coarsely grind or chop the rhizome before drying. Of course,
> for the powdered orris root I imagine you'd wait and grind the small dried
> pieces? >>
>
>I'd say that the smaller the pieces the faster the drying because of the
>increase of surface area, but that would also mean the finished product might
>loose its kick sooner, too. I keep thinking about a potato peeler myself;
>just make curls like one does with a carrot.
>
><Maybe a person could use a wheat grinder at that point. I've always
> been curious tho, if the rhizome is not really the root, is that what is
> actually harvested and dried, or is it the actual root?>.
>
>Negatory, for orris you want the rhizome, which botanically is a portion of
>the stem enlarged into a storage organ.

Here is a reference that I have never seen quoted -- in the Fragrance 
chronicle or elsewhere.

 From AIS Bulletin #30 January 1929, p 70, 'To Read or Not to Read'

LES PARFUMES DE FRANCE. Revue Mensuelle, No. 63, Mai, 1928. Grasse, Paris.

     I [Robert S. Sturtevant] am indebted to Mr. L. F. Hoyt for a copy 
of this issue containing an article on Irises, and their use in 
perfumery. It reviews chiefly botany and cultivation, and goes deeply 
into the extraction perfume, distillation, chemical composition, and 
a number of formulae for extracts, toilette waters, and pomades. The 
two colored pictures of Iris fields are charming.
     Although I. florentina was the orris root of the ancients, I. 
pallida is now used almost entirely and it is grown extensively about 
Verona, at Illasi, Monteforte, Soave, and Fregnano on the slopes of 
limestone hills; in the environs of Florence at Bagno, Ripooli, 
Pontasseva, and Galluzo; and in France since about 1830, near 
Seyssel, (Ain) Grasse, Ollioules, (Alpes-Maritimes), and Morbihan 
(Brittany).
     After harvest (the third year) the roots are peeled and dried for 
distillation by steam, one to three years later. The chemistry of the 
oil of orris root and its consequent use in commercial preparations 
is fully considered. Obtainable from Antoine Chiris & Co., 17 Waverly 
Place, N. Y. City.

Cheers,

Mike,  mlowe@worldiris.com   --   http://www.worldiris.com
South Central Virginia, USA; USDA Zone 7A


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