Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Hydrosol

Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Hydrosol

White Spruce (Picea glauca) Hydrosol

White Spruce (Picea glauca) Hydrosol

Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera) Hydrosol

Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera) Hydrosol

Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Hydrosol

Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Hydrosol

Product Description

Black Spruce (Picea mariana) Hydrosol
  • Québec vrai
  • USDA Organic
Availability: In stock
Only %1 left
As low as CA$11.51

Plant description

Latin Name : Picea mariana
English Name : Black spruce
French Name : Épinette noire
Family : Pinaceae
Origin : Canada

History and Origin

 Black spruce can reach 8 to 20 meters in height and presents a conical shape, usually straight and sharp. It likes granitic, sandy or peaty and humid soils. It is found in numerous regions of Quebec. Black spruce forms dense clusters, stopping sunlight from reaching the ground, therefore creating thick moss layers over a humid, dark and deep soil. This tree is largely used to produce paper pulp because its fibre is relatively soft and because it is subject to twisting. Besides, black spruce is traditionally used to prepare spruce beer beverage, dating from the French colonies.

Native people have been using black spruce as a medicinal aid for numerous pathologies. As an example, Cree people use it as an antidiarrheal (preparing a decoction from the cones). They also prepare a balm with the resin to treat severe burns and chew the cones to relieve toothache. As to the Montagnais, they use it to prepare an infusion against sore throat.

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Aromatherapy Data Sheet

Extraction : Steam distillation
pH : 4,2-4,4
Aroma and taste : The head note is air in a winter forest: cool, dry, and redolent with complex evergreen odors and frost. This is quickly taken over by a wet, slightly musty resin aroma both akin to and quite different from the remarkable odor of the oil or tree. The taste, like that of all conifer waters, has a dry, sawdust edge to it, like chewing on a branch or twig, although it is not unpleasant. It also has the distinctly minty resin taste unique to the boreal conifer of the spruce, pine, and fir families.
Stability and Shelf Life : Very stable. Easily lasts two years, although after that point some particulate matter or a faint gray color may develop. Tests have shown this is not necessarily related to any contamination and is just a phenomenon related to the tree waters.

Properties and Applications

The following information was obtained from the references listed below.

The number-one choice for the adrenal glands; use in combination with the essential oil at the change of each season for a three-week protocol:

  • Consume thirty millilitres of hydrosol in one and a half litres of water daily and apply fifteen drops of the undiluted essential oil to the adrenal/kidney areas on the back during your morning shower, then rinse off with cool to cold water. You will be amazed at how good you feel.

The hydrosol, used one drop at a time on acupuncture points for the adrenals, has an extraordinary effect. Used in a cold double compress (cold hydrosol cloth followed by warm, dry wool wrap) or bath with Scotch pine, it is highly effective for relief of pain and inflammation. It is, as yet, unproven whether the waters have the same cortisone-like effects as the corresponding oil, but indications based on results are promising.

Try it for carpal tunnel, repetitive strain injury (RSI), joint complaints, back pain, muscle aches and swelling, and so on.

An odd side effect of both the oil and the water is that it spruces up the bustline, adding visibly and not insignificantly to both the size and the tone of the breast tissue. Combine black spruce with peppermint hydrosol for a daily décolleté mist, but remember that the effect is not permanent and will disappear a few weeks after cessation of daily applications.

A stimulating and restorative body spray and a good aftershave, black spruce connects us with nature and the ancient wisdom of the trees. Combine it with cedarwood for use on pets in general: care of the coat, bath preparations, or as a spray for fleas and ticks. Animals tend to relate strongly to the odor.  This is an important hydrosol for the committed therapist.

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Documentation and References

  • CATTY, Suzanne, Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils
  • La Flore Laurentienne
  • Native American Ethnobotany
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