Ecosystems

Aromatic perfumes

Honey-making is very important: arbutus honey is one of the most sought-after honeys.
In addition, the Mediterranean scrub is a great store of cooking herbs.

Rosemary
One example is rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), an aromatic shrub whose height varies from few centimetres to 1.50 m, with small green and neat leaves. It can commonly be found in the scrub near the sea. The whole plant secretes a type of oil that gives off a pleasant resinous scent, which in France is used in perfumery to make eau de Cologne. Its twigs steeped in alcohol can be used to treat joint and muscle pains. Rosemary is commonly used as a spice in roasts, sausages, rice and traditional cakes.

Myrtle
Myrtle leaves (Myrtus communis) have been used since Roman times to flavour meat; interestingly, the bologna sausage, Mortadella, takes its name from the popular name with which this plant is often known, Mortella, just because it used to be flavoured with its leaves. When crushed or ground, the leaves of this shrub give off a pleasant orange-like scent, due to the presence of myrtenol, a balsamic oil. Myrtle leaves are still used to produce an essential oil, which is used not only in perfumery, but also in medicine for its balsamic and disinfectant virtues. Its black-bluish berries ripen on the plant in late summer and in Italy they are used to make an excellent dessert wine. The ancients used them to produce a sort of wine and a type of oil that they used in medicine as an astringent. Distilled myrtle water is used as a toiletry under the name of angel or angelic water.

Pine tree
The pine (Pinus pinea) is mainly grown for its nuts and timber: pine nuts are used in confectionery and to make typical dishes. The resin produced from pine nuts is used to make tar and pitch and pine wood is used to make beams and in shipbuilding. The tree is also used to make cellulose pulp.