Milfoil Oil

#### Milfoil. Another very well known botanical, used in popular medicinal infusions for hundreds of years, is **Milfoil**, also known as **Yarrow. **Its use in perfumery is of minor extent. The herb, **Achillea Millefolium**, grows wild all over Europe, western Asia, and the United States, and is probably not cultivated on an extensive scale anywhere in the world. Germany, Belgium, Hungary and Yugoslavia are main suppliers to the drug houses in Europe. Steam distillation of the dried herb takes place occasionally in Germany, France, Hungary and Yugoslavia. **Milfoil**** ****Oil**** **is a dark blue or greenish blue to dark olive colored liquid with a sharp, somewhat camphoraceous odor, drying out in a sweeter, faint and pleasant note. The overall odor may recall the odors of cedarleaf and tansy, Texas cedarwood (faintly) and valerian (but without any acid notes). The bluish color is due to the presence of azulenes (see chamomile oil), but the author has been unable to find any other similarity between milfoil oil and the so-called "german" chamomile oil. Literature sources claim that milfoil oil has been used in the adulteration of chamomile oil. It is indeed possible that the two herbs could have been co-distilled, but the resulting product would hardly fool any connoisseur of true chamomile oil. **Milfoil Oil **itself has been adulterated with cedarleaf oil, Siberian pine needle oil, or with synthetic materials such as isobornyl acetate, camphene, etc. The oil could find some use in perfumery for its unique fresh-herbaceous note. The production of the oil is sporadic, however, and users may have to perform their own distillations in order to obtain even small quantities of the oil. See also **Iva**** ****Oil.**