For many plants, an essential oil is what gives the plant its
aroma. Beyond making the plant smell nice, the aroma can
help deter predators like insects or herbivores. This is where the name aroma therapy comes from.
Essential oils also play a vital role in the reproductive processes of
plants and are useful during plant pollination. As mentioned,
not every plant produces an essential oil, and not every
essential oil found within a plant has significant benefits. But
if you consider how many different plant types exist (and are
still being discovered), there are plenty of powerful essential
oils to go around. Just as plants use essential oils to protect
themselves, we too can use the powerful, natural properties
of essential oils to protect ourselves and promote a healthy
body.
Plants produce essential oils
for a number of reasons, all of
which are important for supporting
plant life.
If you’re thinking to yourself that essential oils are
complicated, you’re not wrong. They do have extremely
intricate and complex chemical properties. However,
essential oils aren’t a complete mystery. In fact, they’re all
around us. Unseen by the naked eye, essential oils hide
within the seeds, stems, roots, barks, flowers, needles, fruits,
and plants that we see every day. Not all plants produce
essential oils, but in plants where essential oils are found,
the oil typically resides in microscopic, specialised glands of
the plant. This is why essential oils aren’t easily seen at first.