Plants and Essential Oils

Abstract

<p>In order to understand how plants make essential oils, it is probably helpful to take a step back from molecular level and look at plants as living organisms. Botanic names are generally derived from Latin or Greek words, as these were the academic languages when taxonomic systems were first invented. The most commonly used botanic names of any specimen are the last two, the genus and the species. Plant anatomy is the study of physical features of plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, shape and size of the plant. Differences in plant anatomical features form the basis for plant classification. Plants that produce essential oils usually store their essential oils in special structures. Photosynthesis is an important chemical reaction that takes place in plants and other organisms that don’t survive by eating other creatures. Plants can manufacture or absorb all molecules they need for cellular functioning but they still have to solve another problem: how to defend themselves against predators.</p>