Australian Natives
Some of the most remarkable scents in the world grow only here. These are the native species at the heart of the range - what they are, where they come from, and how I use them.
In this section
Brown Boronia: the scent worth more than gold
Twelve and a half million flowers to one kilogram. That number explains the price, the scarcity, and the reason a great deal of what gets sold as boronia is really synthetic ionone wearing a good name.
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Kunzea: the tick bush that earned its keep
Named after a German who never saw it, carrying a species name that means doubtful, and a common name people still argue about. Almost everything printed about kunzea needs a small correction - except the oil, which is straightforward.
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Blue Cypress: the blue that comes from wood
The oil runs a deep inky blue, but the colour is not sitting inside the tree waiting to be let out. It is made in the still - and the tree it comes from is a Gondwanan survivor that only thrives where the country is burnt the right way.
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Blue Gum: the tree that left home
Tasmania's floral emblem became the most widely planted eucalypt on Earth. Most of the oil now sold under its name is distilled a very long way from Tasmania, and the reason has nothing to do with quality.
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Blue Mallee: the tree that is mostly underground
It is not really a tree and it is not really felled. You cut it to the ground, it grows back from a woody swelling that may be older than the farm, and almost all of Australia's eucalyptus oil comes from two patches of inland scrub.
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Coming soon
Australian Sandalwood: the patient tree
Santalum spicatum, and why the wait is measured in decades.