Botanical name - Pogostemun cablin
Country of Origin - India
Most people know patchouli as the ever popular incense scent from the Sixties, when it seemed to be every flower child's favorite perfume. The scent has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, and is said to attract the opposite sex. It's slightly musty, pungent smell is unmistakable and pervasive, and it was often used as a fixative for other scents, or to mask more objectionable scents.
In India, people use Patchouli leaves to protect valuable clothing and carpets in order to repel moths and many other insects.
Indian cashmere shawls were once, and less frequently so now, delicately scented by being stored in wooden containers aromatised with Patchouli oil or leaves.
During the 18th and 19th century, silk traders from China traveling to the Middle East packed their silk cloth with dried patchouli leaves to prevent moths from laying their eggs on the cloth. It has also been proven to effectively prevent female moths from adhering to males, and vice versa.