cashmere wood

[Laurence Horn]

At 7:03 PM -0500 11/9/01, pskuhlman at JUNO.COM wrote:
>         Cashmere is another spelling for Kashmir.  Kashmir is in an area
>of the world where perfume-making is quite ancient.  There are many
>essential oils used in perfumes which are derived from wood or bark, e.g.
>sandalwood and cedar wood, so I  think cashmere wood probably does refer
>to a real plant.  In poking around some horticultural references I could
>not find Kashmir Wood or Cashmere Wood, but interestingly in Alfred Byrd
>Graf's "Tropica: Color Cyclopedia of Exotic Plants and Trees" I found the
>common name, Kashmir bouquet, referring to the species, Clerodendrum
>bungei.  Remember the soap, Cashmere Bouquet?  Or maybe it's still made.
>
>         I doubt this Clerodendrum bungei is the species referred to in
>the common name, Cashmere Wood, however.  If you really want to find out,
>you could try contacting the Institute for Flavors and Fragrances in New
>York.

It's definitely not a typo for "wool".  A quick search of the web via
google indicates a lot of fragrances (< Givenchy, The Body Shop,
Gianni Versace) that make use of "cashmere wood", whatever it is.
But there's also a much friendlier non-profit site for the Baca
Center for High Altitude Sustainable Agriculture that refers to the
cultivation of this item, as part of a longterm project...

"[t]o establish sustainable cottage industries to provide experience
and jobs on
a community level. This includes the production of: fresh and dried herbs,
fresh cut and dried flowers, cashmere wood, eggs, honey, goat cheese and
milk, organic grains, wild flower seed, medicinal herbal ointments, and
frozen, canned and dried produce."

Read more at http://www.manitou.org/mf_eco-env_bchasa.html

larry

>
>Patricia Kuhlman
>Brooklyn, NY
>pskuhlman at juno.com
>
>On Fri, 9 Nov 2001 11:59:52 -0500 sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> writes:
>>  susan wrote:
>>
>>  >Does anyone know what in the world cashmere wood is? Is really a
>>  tree
>>  >species or just another upscale perfumery's invention?
>>  >Thanks,
>>  >Susan Gilbert
>>  >mssmith at boone.net
>>  >The truth shall make you odd.
>>  >                                      -Flannery O'Conner
>>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>  A misprint for WOOL?
>>  A. Murie
>>