The oil is also used as a flea <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea>
repellant for pets. This latter usage is the origin of the plant's Latin
species name, the flea being /Pulex irritans/. However the distantly
related American Pennyroyal
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pennyroyal> or /Hedeoma
pulegioides/ is the source of much of what is called /*pennyroyal oil*/.
Love that Google!
N
MaryChristine wrote:
plant pennyroyal outside in your yards. it's an herb, and it grows
like, well, a weed....
while pennyroyal OIL itself can be toxic in high concentration, as was
mentioned before, it's been used as part of flea repellant
preparations for years.
back before they made the topical flea products, during a really bad
flea summer, friends noticed that their household had NONE while
everyone they knew were just infested..... and they had a dog that was
in and out....
they had a rock garden, and they'd planted pennyroyal in that. being
the weedy little thing that it is, it basically took over the yard--so
everytime Dag (yes, that was her name) was racing around in the yard,
she was busily repelling fleas -- by the time she came in, no visitors
came in with her.
my friends were of the sort who did a lot out in their
yard--gardening, having big parties, etc--and they didn't bring the
little buggies in with them, either.
worth a try, and smells nice, too.
