Ros marinos : rosée marine, which undoubtedly refers at the same time to the presence of rosemary on the coasts and the islands of the Mediterranean and to various legends related to this plant. 

Edition : 22/04/94

long-lived Shrub, with perennial sheets, dark green, of narrow and lengthened form covering totality with the branches. The aspect and the color can vary according to the rainfall of the year. The blue flowers mauve, small, many and are gathered. 

The principal zones of production are at the south of Tunisia, in a radius of 250 km approximately around Sousse, at an altitude from 500 to 600 meters, it acts of wild plants.

Révision : 16/10/00

Collect

The period of the most favorable gathering is located March at May. It can be prolonged then, but it generally stops in summer because of the fire hazards. As to Morocco, the zones of cut are allotted by a system of adjudication.

The word of tradition

Rosemary and its distillation are known for a long time in Tunisia. The uses are rather pharmaceutical and culinary. The production of essential oil was organized and strongly developed for export in the first decades of XXème century. 

Uses

External and interns proprieties Medicinal disinfecting, tonic action and cholagogue. Culinary aromatic, perfumery.

- B.M. Lawrence "Progress in essential oils : Rosemary oil", Perfumer and Flavorist, 1995, 20, Jan/Feb.
- Boelens M.H. " The essentiel oil from rosmarinus L.". Perfumer and Flavorist, 1985, 10, Oct/Nov.