807 



Vernac. names. — Khas Khas, Vetiver (India, Stapf, Watt); 

 Bena (India, Duthie)] Yerba Moro, Raiz de Moro (Philippines, 

 Blayico) ; Akar wangi (Malay, Stapf) ; Vetivert or Vetiver Root, 

 Khus-KJius or Cus-Cus root, Sweet Grass. 



Tropical Asia — wild and cultivated ; known in Tropical 

 Africa from the French Congo and Belgian Congo and probably 

 spread by cultivation to other parts of the Continent, including 

 Nigeria;., .in other tropical countries — S. America, West Indies, 

 etc. 



Rhizomes or roots, aromatic, the source of '' Vetiver Oil " 

 remarkable amongst essential oils for its viscid character — of 

 Commerce, usually extracted in Europe from imported roots, 

 Tuticorin — Coromandel Coast being the principal country of 

 export. A report to Kew on a sample of " Khus-Khus " root 

 from Trinidad, made by a firm in London July 1913 states 

 " We have shown your sample of * Trinidad ' to several of our 

 buyers and we gather that the value is about 75.-8.5. per cwt., 

 possibly rather over, as it is free from chimips; we cannot 

 however recommend consignments of this article " ; " but on 

 the other hand of ** Vetivert Root " from Colombia in March 

 1916 it v/as reported by another London firm that " the sample 

 of Vetivert root is very good, clean and good flavour— if bulk 

 as per sample, to-day's value is 405.-455. per cwt. ; can your 

 friends ship a parcel at once, it is much wanted '' (Mus, Kew). 

 In 1914, Vetiver was exported from Reunion to the amount of 

 2750 lb. at an average price of £1 125. per kilo (Cons. Rep. Ann. 

 No. 5530, 1915, p. 7). The value to-day (1921) is for the oil 

 (Reunion) 455. per lb. (Perfumery & Ess. Oil Rec. Jan. 1921, 

 p. 32) down to 345. per lb. (I.e. March 1921, p. 98) in London. 



The oil is used in perfumery; the finest roots are made into 

 little bunches for putting away with clothing and the powdered 

 root is an ingredient in sachet powders in this country and the 

 root is used for perfumery and medicinal purposes in India 

 (Stapf, Kew BuU. 1906, p. 348; Watt, Comm. Prod. India, 

 p. 1106); roots used for making the scented and aromatic mats 

 which are hung in doorways and kept wet to cool the atmosphere 

 during the hot season and for baskets and fancy articles in 

 India (I.e.) and the grass is used for thatching cooKe huts in 

 Mauritius (Agric. News, Barbados, June 10th 1911, p. 188); 

 in universal demand for thatching purposes and when young 

 affords good fodder, India (Watt, I.e.). 



The plant grows 6 ft. or so high; it may be easily propagated 

 by division of the root-stock, requires a warm chmate, good 

 soil in moist situations or near river banks. In Mauritius it 

 is said to be usually planted all round the cane fields in order 

 to prevent the spread of ** Devil's grass " {Cynodon Dactylon) 

 from the estate roads on to the cultivated land (Agric. News, 

 Barbados, I.e.). When growTi on a commerical scale the plants 

 are set out in rows about 1| metres apart ; 65 rows to the hectare, 

 a total of 6500 metres representing about 43,000 roots. In the 



