Geranium leaf

Rose geranium traces its origins to the Cape Province of South Africa, where Dutch botanists first catalogued the aromatic Pelargonium species in the 1600s. European collectors brought them home as ornamental curiosities, and by the 1700s the scented geraniums appeared in medicinal and kitchen gardens across the continent. Commercial cultivation for essential oil began in earnest on the French island of Réunion (then Bourbon) in the 19th century, establishing the famous Bourbon grade that set the global standard. Egypt became a major producer in the early 20th century, followed by China, Morocco, and Spain. The rose-scented Pelargonium capitatum and the broader Pelargonium graveolens species formed the backbone of this trade, their deeply lobed, fragrant leaves transformed by distillers into the aromatic material that would anchor floral and chypre compositions for generations.