Cedar Smudge Stick (Cedrus) Mexico

The foliage is a flat spray of overlapping scale-leaves, soft and pliable, sage-green when fresh and yellow-green when dried for bundling. The dominant compounds are α-pinene, sabinene, and cedrol - together producing a register that opens piney and resinous, settles sweet and woody, and holds longer in the room than most botanicals. The species is the most widely planted commercial tree across the Mexican highlands.

1. Hold the tip to a flame until it catches (5–10 seconds).
2. Blow the flame out so the bundle smoulders.
3. Hold over a fireproof dish or shell.
4. Walk slowly through the room - do not fan vigorously.
5. Press the burning tip into sand or a dish to extinguish. Let cool fully before storing.

Burn in a ventilated room. Keep away from soft furnishings and loose fabric.

• Botanical: Cupressus lusitanica
• Common name: Mexican Cypress · Mexican White Cedar · cedro blanco
• Family: Cupressaceae (cypress family — not true cedar)
• Origin: Highland Mexico
• Source name: cedro blanco · cedro de las montañas (Spanish)
• Form: Hand-bundled foliage, cotton-tied
• Size: 4"
• Dominant compounds: α-pinene · sabinene · cedrol
• Shelf life: Best within 12 months of production

The Latin species name is a historical accident. Lusitanica means "Portuguese" - the European botanists who first formally described the species in the 18th century did so from a specimen planted at the Buçaco monastery in Portugal, grown from seeds carried back from Mexico. The name carried, despite the tree being native to Mexico and Central America. A two-step translation error: a Mexican cypress called cedar in Spanish, given a Portuguese Latin name in Europe.