What is a camphoraceous scent? And why are Tea Trees “camphoraceous”?
Camphoraceous means it “smells like camphor”. A certain quality of aroma, it has the medicinal qualities of the camphor tree. A Tea Tree has an aroma of a true camphor tree.
Native or naturalized Tea Trees
Many so-called Tea Trees are in the botanical myrtle family. Two of the Tea Trees are native to Australia, and a third one, the Cajeput tree, is native to a part of Indonesia. One of the Australian natives, with the common name of Niaouli, is now naturalized in the U.S.
Invited guests of early gardener-botanists
Like emissaries from foreign lands, exotic tea trees such as Niaouli are naturalized in the U.S., in the states of California and Florida. They were brought here by late 18th and early 19th century gardener-botanists to introduce new flora. Climate similarities and the ability of the trees to adapt to a new environment allow them to do well here.
Aromas and healing essences
In the late 1700s, European botanists travelled by ship for many months from the ports of Britain to the South Pacific region. They were seeking exotic trees and plants and were delighted to find trees with a scent like camphor that held much promise as medicine and for perfumes.
Fast forward in time to now.
These days we’re familiar with the pain-relieving quality of camphor in cajeput oil, an ingredient in Tiger Balm and other pain-soothing remedies. We also have a childhood memory of vick’s vapo rub for colds and flus, a jelly-like preparation made of camphor, eucalyptus and menthol, among other ingredients. No doubt, we are glad to have camphoraceous smells to counteract colds, flus, and aches and pains.
The Aromas of Tea Trees
A basic characteristic of Tea Trees aromas are their anti-microbial, anti-septic, expectorant actions and pain-relieving qualities.
Although there are subtle differences, the “camphoraceous scents” come from the leaves and twigs of Melaleuca species trees. Three Melaleucas are Tea Tree, Cajeput, and Niaouli. Each one is strongly scented but varies in intensity and healing actions.
We are most familiar with Tea Tree oil, from the tree with the botanical name of Melaleuca alternifolia. Its origin is the Australian wetlands or floodplains. Tea Tree essential oil is the one found in health food stores labelled Tea Tree Oil. To be of good quality, the oil must be balanced to be rich in terpenin-4-ol.
Tea Tree essential oil has a “medicinal odour, reminiscent of juniper and cypress”, according to Chrissie Wildwood. Julia Lawless describes it as a “warm, fresh, spicy-camphoraceous odour”.
Energetically speaking, Gabriel Mojay asserts that it’s helpful for “mental fatigue and nervous debility”. From these explanations, I would expect to find Tea Tree essential oil a very pleasing oil for mental well-being.
In fact, Jennifer Rhind cites Tea Tree essential oil studies which indicate a high degree of anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, antimicrobial actions. These have positively strong implications against viral infections as well.
Cajeput, and Niaouli are tea trees, too
Cajeput essential oil comes from the tree botanically known as Melaleuca cajeputi. A celebrated tree from Sulawesi, Indonesia, it’s used for the healing qualities of its leaves and twigs in medicines for arthritic conditions as well as colds and flus. If you’re familiar with Tiger Balm, you’ve experienced the healing of cajeput oil blends.
Cajeput essential oil has a “penetrating, camphoraceous medicinal odour” according to Julia Lawless. More than half of its constituents can be cineole, the chemical we recognize as eucalyptus odour. Due to the presence of components that help vary its scent, Cajeput is useful for respiratory complaints and for maladies of the immune system such as colds, flus, viral infections.
Niaouli essential oil comes from the tree botanically known as Melaleuca quinquinervia. Some authors use M. viridiflora. It’s native to Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Australia. Niaouli offers a variety of scents, based on the chemotype of the tree. Its white-ish papery bark, helpful to indigenous people of Australia and Papua New Guinea was a pliable building and roofing material for canoes and shelter.
Niaouli essential oil is probably the least known of the three tea tree oils discussed here. Rhind says that this oil is “Sweet, fresh, camphoraceous and cineolic” so that means it has a slight eucalyptol odour. And thus, it has positive effect on respiratory infections, and asthma, sinusitis and sore throat. So also, it’s used as a pain- relieving substance.
Essential Oils for Skin and Lungs
Tea Tree essential oil has a lighter aroma than the more camphoraceous Cajeput oil.
Blended with other essential oils, Tea Tree makes a skin-calming or anti-histamine combination. Depending on your preference, Tea Tree is infused with a sweeter scent, a more citrus-y scent, or a low-key anti-microbial and diluted in a carrier oil. Tea Tree’s medicinal properties are a match for rashes, dermatophytes, and acne. Tea Tree can staunch the spread of microbes, and relieve fungus. Its properties against MRSA are well-documented.
Ask an herbalist or aromatherapist in your local shop for an essential oil blend containing Tea Tree. Your skin and sinuses will be ecstatic you paid them such loving attention!
Using Tea Trees as Herbal Medicine
Making teas from dried leaves is good medicine. Leaves from Tea trees can be steeped in freshly boiled water to make a beverage or fomentation for anti-bacterial, anti-fungal use, or to heal skin issues. The whole leaf, if using, is steeped for between 5 and 20 minutes. Twigs and bark are decocted or cooked for at least 20 minutes.
For colds and flus, anti-microbial, antibacterial, antiviral, analgesic herbs can be blended together. Eucalyptus and Tea Tree make an effective blend.
Another tree with scented leaves and bark is Eucalyptus, which offers many types or species. See this post for more on Eucalyptus essential oil.
These herbs, by reducing pain and clearing out microbial interference, help the body discover its own healing strengths.
CAUTIONS: Please do not swallow or ingest essential oils of Tea Tree, Cajeput or Niaouli essential oils. These oils are much too strong for internal use, intentional or not. Please do not give to children under age 10.
NOTES: camphor, chemotype
Smell of camphor
Smelling like camphor is a rare quality in trees. The real Camphor is the powerful exudate from the camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora. This resin is a highly prized aromatic substance with strong odour and amazing healing properties. A treasure among apothecaries and herbalists, camphor was traded in late Medieval times.
No wonder that when the Europeans smelled the leaves of Tea trees, they recognized that an alternate for the rare and expensive camphor had been found.
What is a chemotype?
A “chemotype” of an essential oil is stronger in one constituent than another. See my post on Rosemary, here, to see more on chemotypes. In the case of Niaouli trees, for example, their scents range from more cineole, to more nerolidol, to more linalool—a component found in Lavender essential oil that is believed responsible for calming and sedating the nerves, but also for anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-infectious actions.
See more on the aroma of camphor and highly aromatic essential oils that are also anti-microbial, here.
See also my post on the most desired scents, Aromas of Rose Petals and Orange Peels, here.
Books I used as references for the above descriptions can be seen, here.
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