Spikenard

Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from Nardostachys jatamansi, a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India.

[1][2][3] Historically, the name nard has also referred to essential oils derived from other species including the closely related valerian genus, as well as Spanish lavender; these cheaper, more common plants have been used in perfume-making, and sometimes to adulterate true spikenard.

This word may ultimately derive either from Sanskrit नलद (nálada 'Indian spikenard'), or from Naarda, an ancient Assyrian city (possibly the modern town of Dohuk, Iraq).

[7] Among the other phytochemical products are found in the rhizomes are: nardostachysin, a terpenoid ester;[8] nardostachnol; nardostachnone; jatamansic acid and jatamansinone.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.

She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.In the Iberian iconographic tradition of the Catholic Church, the spikenard is used to represent Saint Joseph.

erba né biado in sua vita non pasce, ma sol d’incenso lagrime e d’amomo, e nardo e mirra son l’ultime fasce.