Amber Apples and Cloved Oranges: A Botanical History of Pomanders
Associated with old-fashioned holiday decorations, pomanders have changed in shape and content over the centuries until they reached the familiar clove-covered orange best known today. Pomanders were not originally connected with Christmas, or made with oranges. The origins of pomanders trace to medieval Europe where they were used for health, protection from supernatural forces, and as a fashionable accessory.
The word pomander is a combination of two French words — pomme meaning apple and ambre meaning amber. Pomander in French was originally called pomme de ambre, literally translated to apple of amber. A common ingredient found in earlier versions of pomanders is a material called gray amber or ambergris from the French embre gris, because the sweet scent of ambergris is reminiscent of amber. Another ingredient that could take the place of ambergris in pomanders is one of botanical origins, a resin harvested from the rock rose or cistus shrub, called labdanum. The earliest pomanders were made with resins, gums, herbs and oils blended into a paste with aromatic water and molded into balls before being left to dry and harden.
