Product Name: Rosemary Rosmarinus Officinalis Botanical name: Rosmarinus officinalis HS Code: 12119094 Origin: Egypt Rosemary leaves Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen shrub with leaves similar to hemlock needles. It is native to the Mediterranean regions but is reasonably hardy in cool climates. Special cultivars like 'Arp' can withstand winter temperatures down to about â??20 �°C (â??4 �°F). It can withstand droughts, surviving a severe lack of water for lengthy periods. It is considered a potentially invasive species and its seeds are often difficult to start, with a low germination rate and relatively slow growth, but the plant can live as long as 35 years. The plant flowers in spring and summer in temperate climates, but the plants can be in constant bloom in warm climates; flowers are white, pink, purple or deep blue. Rosemary also has a tendency to flower outside its normal flowering season; it has been known to flower as late as early December, and as early as mid-February (in the northern hemisphere) History Illustration from an Italian herbal, circa 1500 The first mention of rosemary is found on cuneiform stone tablets as early as 5000 BCE, after which Egyptians used it for embalming corpses starting in 3500 BCE. There is no further mention of rosemary until the ancient Greeks and Romans. Pliny the Elder (23â??79 CE) wrote about it in The Natural History,[20] as did Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40 CE to c. 90 CE), a Greek botanist (amongst other things). He talked about rosemary in his most famous writing, De Materia Medica, one of the most influential herbal books in history. The herb later made its way east to China and was naturalized there as early as 220 CE, during the late Han dynasty. FOR MORE INFO & ORDER CONTACT THE SPECIALIST NOW (24/7)
