Sunshine, Louisiana

Sunshine is a populated place in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States which is now partially within the city limits of St. Gabriel.

Located approximately 15 miles south of Baton Rouge along the Mississippi River, the community was originally named Forlorn Hope by inhabitants but was given its current name by Oscar Richard, Sr., who was the post master of the Forlorn Hope, La., post office.

Much of the community was annexed to St. Gabriel in 1987, excluding a peninsula along the river.

[1] The "Sunshine" type of vetiver grass, whose roots have long been used in Louisiana as an insect repellent, was given that name by the USDA in 1989 for Sunshine, Louisiana, where Eugene LeBlanc Sr. grew a heritage clone given to his grandparents by Felix Perilloux, who in turn had acquired it from his wife Myrthee Froisy Perilloux in the 1860s.

[2][3] Vetiver was clonally introduced throughout the tropics in the 19th century, and DNA fingerprinting has shown that almost all the vetiver grown worldwide for perfumery, agriculture, and bioengineering is essentially the same nonfertile cultigen as Sunshine.