Can you dig it? It's a very particular scent..........Demeter's Patchouli is 100% natural, a full bodied, but in no way overbearing version of this classical accord. This fragrant herb, with egg-shaped leaves gives out its odor when rubbed. The whitish flowers are tinged with purple. The crop is cut two or three times a year, the leaves dried and packed in bales and exported for distillation of the oil. The best oil is freshly distilled near the plantations. Sachets are made of the coarsely-powdered leaves, and before its common use in Europe, genuine Indian shawls and Indian ink were distinguished by the odour, which has the unusual quality of improving with age. The older oil is preferred by perfumers and used to bring more lasting properties to other scents. Its use is said to cause sometimes loss of appetite and sleep and nervous attacks. There are Chinese, Japanese, and Arab beliefs that the oil possesses prophylactic properties too.