Elemi

Elemi oil is extracted from the resin of the elemi tree, scientifically called Canarium luzonicum, and also known as Manila elemi. A tropical tree from the Phillippines, the elemi can grow up to 115 feet tall, and exudes the pale yellow resin when it sprouts leaves—which can grow to nearly a foot long. Related to the trees that produce frankincense, elemi was sometimes used in the place of frankincense when the latter became very expensive.

Special Precautions and Safety of Elemi

Tisserand and Young state that Elemi Oil may contain methyleugenol. Their dermal maximum recommendation based on the possibility of 0.3% methyleugenol content is 6.7%. They warn about avoiding use of the oil altogether if it has oxidized.

Benefits and uses of Elemi

Bronchitis, catarrh, extreme coughing, mature skin, scars, stress, wounds.

references

Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, Essential Oil Safety (Second Edition. United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2014), 272.