The essential oil is steam-distilled from the flowering tops and leaves.
A pale yellow to green coloured liquid, it takes approximately 800 kg of the aerial plant to distil 1 kg of essential oil. Although Russia is now the largest volume producer in the world, it rates a poor third from a quality point of view behind French and the South Carolina produced American oil. Because of its competitive price, you will find a lot of Russian oil used in aromatherapy but the odour is quite crude and constituents are different.
