Also improperly known as spikenard (from Latin spica, head of grain, and nardi), this hardy herb, a member of the Valerianaceae family, grows in the foothills of the Himalayas. The part of the plant growing underground has the appearance of a fibrous spindle, and is rich in the precious essential oil.

From India, nard traveled, in the form of a dry rhizome or oil phase extract, via Persia, under the name nardin.

Horace offered to send Virgil a whole barrel of his best wine in exchange for a phial of nard. Though nard is now rare on the shelves of the western perfumer, its name stood for centuries as an evocation of the perfume of the lost Garden of Eden, and in literature, nard came to refer to any perfume, as long as it was exquisite.

Pliny, in his Natural History, lists twelve species of nard, ranging from lavender stoechas and tuberous valerian to true nard – Nardostachys jatamansi. Price lists dating from this period suggest that this pure nard, with which Christ was anointed at Bethany, might already have been produced by a form of distillation.

By relating that it was contained in an alabaster flask, Mark (14,3) and Matthew (26,7) further underline the precious nature of the nard given to Christ.

In the Old Testament, nard is referred to in the Song of Songs, as a symbol of the intimate nature of the Bride’s love. This is the point at which relations with her beloved are initiated. When the perfume of nard is named, the bride recognizes her beloved as such.

It is in the Gospels that nard becomes a symbol of revelation during the anointment of Christ at Bethany.

Nard has intense, warm, fragrant, musky notes, similar to the aromas of humus. It exhibits a wide range of fragrances among the root-type perfumes.