BOTANICALS GLOSSARY

There is a reason lavender has never left us. It has been part of English domestic life for centuries. In linen drawers. In wash water. Hung above doorways in dry summer bunches. It is one of the few scents that most people carry a memory of before they ever seek it out.

True lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, is the variety that perfumers and aromatherapists return to above all others. Its chemistry is distinctive: high in linalool and linalyl acetate, the compounds responsible for its soft, deeply calming character. Low camphor means it never intrudes. In therapeutic use it is associated with nervous system support, with the easing of tension and the encouragement of sleep. In perfumery it is the note that everything else learns to work around.

English-grown angustifolia has a green edge that imported and synthetic lavender never quite captures. The cooler climate concentrates something quieter and more particular. In diffusion it carries easily without crowding a room. In a blend it acts as the heart, the note that holds the composition together. At Tussie it sits at the centre of several of our blends, reliable enough to be present every day and complex enough to be worth it.

Lavandin is not lavender. It looks like it, grows in the same fields and most people have never been told the difference. It is a natural hybrid, a cross between true lavender and spike lavender, and its oil is chemically distinct. More camphor. More volume. A stronger, more assertive character that fills a room differently from the angustifolias.

This matters because lavandin is what fills the majority of lavender products sold in this country. It accounts for the bulk of what grows in the famous Provencal fields and is widely sold simply as lavender, with packaging that rarely declares the difference. We always declare the difference.

English Grosso has a particular boldness to it. The camphor note is present but not harsh. It is direct and purposeful. In aromatherapy it is valued for its stimulating and clarifying qualities, used to clear the mind rather than settle it, and has a long history of use in respiratory support and muscular care. In a blend it adds energy and structure, sharpening what surrounds it. A different character from its true lavender cousins, and just as worth knowing.

Roman chamomile has been grown in English gardens for so long it feels native. Low-growing, apple-scented, quietly persistent. It spreads between paving stones and along path edges, releasing its scent underfoot. There is something deeply grounding about a plant that simply gets on with it.

The oil is soft and warm, with a slightly sweet, apple-like character that synthetic chamomile never quite replicates. In aromatherapy it is one of the most trusted oils for nervous tension and restlessness, used where something gentle and reliable is needed rather than something dramatic. It does not announce itself. It settles. In a blend it rounds off harder edges and brings a warmth that makes everything feel more considered, the note that holds a composition steady when other oils are doing the expressive work. At Tussie we use it to bring ease to blends built for the end of the day.

Clary sage is one of those plants that rewards patience. Its scent is not immediately obvious. You have to lean in, brush the leaves, let it open slowly. Then it delivers something complex and grounding, earthy, slightly sweet, with a depth that lingers long after the first note has passed.

English-grown clary sage has a green, almost mossy quality that warm-climate varieties lack. The cool growing season concentrates something quieter and more nuanced. In aromatherapy it is associated with nervous system support and hormonal balance, used by women navigating the cyclical demands of their bodies for centuries before that language existed. It does not perform. It grounds. In a blend it acts as a bridge between lighter herbaceous notes and deeper base notes, giving the composition a spine without drawing attention to itself. At Tussie it appears in our most restorative blends, the ones that ask something of you and give something back.

Rosemary is one of the most deeply embedded plants in English domestic and ceremonial life. It has been used at weddings and funerals, in cooking and medicine, in the garden and the stillroom, for so long that its presence feels almost constitutional.

The oil is sharp and resinous with a camphor edge that clears the air around it. In aromatherapy rosemary is associated with focus and mental clarity, with stimulating circulation and sharpening concentration, one of the few oils that belongs at the beginning of a day rather than the end. English-grown rosemary has a particular brightness to it, a green quality that comes from the cooler climate and the longer growing season. It does not have the heavy, almost medicinal weight of Mediterranean varieties. It is cleaner. More precise. In a blend it lifts everything around it, a top note that carries into the middle and gives the whole composition energy and direction. At Tussie we use it in blends that are meant to clear the head rather than settle it.

Peppermint is a hybrid that England made its own. First cultivated commercially in Mitcham, Surrey in the eighteenth century, English peppermint became the standard against which all others were measured. The oil from English-grown plants has a particular clarity and coolness that warmer climates cannot replicate.

The scent is immediate and unambiguous. Cool, clean, sharp. It arrives before anything else and clears the air around it. In aromatherapy peppermint is used to stimulate, to sharpen focus and ease head tension, one of the most direct and purposeful oils in the palette. In a blend it acts as a top note in the truest sense: the first thing you encounter, the note that sets the terms. Used carefully it adds precision and energy. In diffusion at Tussie it is used sparingly, as an accent rather than a lead, where the intention is to wake a room up rather than settle it down.

Melissa, or lemon balm, is one of the most delicate oils we work with. It takes an extraordinary quantity of plant material to produce even a small amount of oil, which is why genuine melissa is rare and why so much of what is sold under that name is adulterated or synthetic. Ours is real.

The scent is light and lemony with a soft herbal quality underneath. It does not have the sharpness of lemon or the weight of citrus. It is something quieter and more nuanced, a lemon note that has been softened by the herb garden. In aromatherapy melissa has a long association with anxiety and low mood, used historically as a gentle nervous system tonic and today by those who find heavier sedating oils too much. It lifts without stimulating. In a blend it adds brightness without edge, moving from top to middle with a softness that the composition carries rather than announces. At Tussie we value it most in blends intended to restore a gentle sense of ease.

Dill is an unexpected choice for an aromatherapy palette and that is precisely why it belongs here. It has a freshness and a slight anise quality that cuts through heavier notes and adds something genuinely distinctive. It is not a scent most people associate with wellbeing, but once encountered in a well-constructed blend it becomes indispensable.

English-grown dill has a particular brightness. The cool climate keeps the anise note clean and prevents the heavier, almost medicinal quality that can develop in warmer conditions. In aromatherapy dill oil is associated with digestive ease and nervous calm, used in stillroom preparations long before either of those functions had a clinical name. As a top note it is one of the most interesting we work with: it asks you to pay attention. It makes a blend feel specific rather than generic. At Tussie we use it sparingly, where we want a composition to have character that earns a second breath.

Yarrow is one of the oldest medicinal plants in the English landscape. It grows in meadows and along roadsides, low and persistent, with flat white flower heads that appear from midsummer onwards. It has been used to treat wounds, fevers and inflammation for so long that its medicinal history predates written records.

The oil has a complex, slightly bitter herbal quality with a green edge that is distinctly English. It is not an easy scent. It asks something of you. In aromatherapy yarrow is associated with deep restorative action, with the kind of calm that comes after difficulty rather than before it. Used in blending for centuries by those who understood its value, it is the note that makes a composition feel considered rather than simply pleasant. The difference between a fragrance and something that actually does something. At Tussie it is the oil that gives our most intentional blends their depth and seriousness.

Angelica is a plant of considerable presence. Tall, architectural, with large umbel flower heads that appear in midsummer and seeds that carry a complex, musky, slightly spiced scent quite unlike anything else in the English botanical palette.

The seed oil is deep and grounding with an earthy quality that anchors a blend without heaviness. It has a slight warmth, a spiced edge that gives it genuine character. In aromatherapy angelica is associated with nervous exhaustion and the kind of depletion that comes from carrying too much for too long. It is not a comfort oil. It is a restoration oil. In perfumery it functions as a true fixative, extending the life of everything around it and giving a blend its long, slow finish. At Tussie it is the reason our deeper compositions stay with you. It is not the note you notice first. It is the reason you keep noticing.

Hemp has been grown in England for centuries, for rope, for cloth, for oil. It is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the English countryside, deeply embedded in the agricultural history of this land. The essential oil is not what most people expect. It is green and earthy, with a grounding quality that anchors a blend without heaviness.

English hemp oil has a distinctly botanical character, clean earth and green stem, the smell of the field rather than anything heady or resinous. In aromatherapy hemp essential oil is associated with grounding and nervous system balance, its earthy quality used to bring the body back to a settled state when the mind has been elsewhere. In a blend it acts as a quiet anchor, holding lighter notes in place and giving the composition a rootedness that feels very English. At Tussie it is the base beneath the base, present without announcing itself.

Thyme is one of the most characterful plants in the English herb garden. Low-growing, woody-stemmed, unfussy about soil. It thrives in the same chalk downland conditions that suit lavender and produces an oil that is sharp, warm and unmistakably herbaceous.

English thyme oil has a directness that Mediterranean varieties sometimes lack. In aromatherapy it has one of the longest therapeutic histories of any English plant, associated with respiratory support, immune function and the clearing of the air in sickrooms long before those applications had clinical names. It does not soften. It adds a warm, slightly medicinal edge to a blend that gives everything around it more presence. In perfumery it is used to add backbone and character to herbal compositions. At Tussie we use it where we want a blend to feel purposeful, the note that tells you something is actually happening.

Sage has been in English gardens since at least the Middle Ages and probably much longer. It is a constant in the kitchen garden and the herb border, its silver-green leaves releasing their warm, slightly medicinal scent whenever touched. There is something deeply familiar about it, a scent that feels lived-in rather than discovered.

English sage oil is warm and slightly camphor-like, with an earthiness that grounds a blend without weighing it down. In aromatherapy it has a long association with mental clarity and hormonal balance, used historically during menopause and in support of the body's slower, cyclical rhythms. It works as a steady presence in the middle of a composition, the note that makes everything feel more substantial. In perfumery it provides the kind of quiet authority that prevents a blend from floating away. At Tussie we use it in compositions that are meant to feel settled and whole.

Lovage is one of the great forgotten plants of the English herb garden. Tall, robust, deeply rooted, with a complex scent that sits somewhere between celery, parsley and something altogether its own. It was a staple of monastery and physic gardens for centuries and has never entirely disappeared from the English countryside, even if it has been largely forgotten by mainstream gardening.

The oil is deep and distinctive, a base note that adds genuine complexity and a certain wildness to a blend. In aromatherapy it is associated with deep detoxifying action and the support of elimination, one of those oils that works quietly beneath the surface of a composition and beneath the surface of the body. In perfumery it is valued for its unusual, slightly angular depth, the note that makes a blend feel grown rather than assembled. It is not for the faint-hearted. At Tussie we use it carefully, in compositions where depth and a touch of the unexpected are exactly the point.

This is the oil we are growing ourselves.

Orange-scented pelargoniums are not native to England but they have been grown in English glasshouses and conservatories since the seventeenth century, prized for their extraordinary scent. The leaves release a bright, warm citrus note when touched, somewhere between orange zest and warm floral, with a green botanical quality underneath that grounds it.

In aromatherapy citrus-forward oils are associated with mood elevation and nervous system support, used where something warming and uplifting is needed rather than something settling. In perfumery pelargonium occupies a distinctive space between the floral and the citrus families, valued for its complexity and its ability to bridge very different notes within a blend. By growing our own we have unlocked a home-grown citrus note without any of the environmental cost associated with imported citrus oils. At Tussie it appears in our most joyful compositions, the ones that smell of summer and the warmth of something coming good.