Camphene
Camphene is the damp one — wet fir needles and camphor. Pinene is dry and resinous, the smell of a cut branch rather than the forest floor.
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Walk into a pine forest and the first thing that hits you is pinene. It's the most common terpene in the natural world — not just conifers but rosemary, basil, dill, parsley. In a jar it reads sharp and green, the smell of something just cut.
About Pinene
Pinene is the clear-headed one. Where myrcene pulls toward the couch, pinene keeps things bright, and it's the terpene most often credited with taking the edge off the foggy, forgetful side of a high. Rosemary has been the folk shorthand for alertness for centuries, and pinene is what's doing the work.
It's also among the first to go. At 155°C / 311°F pinene is lighter than most of what it shares a jar with, and a warm dry strips that sharp green top note first, leaving the heavier earth underneath. If a strain has ever smelled brilliant at chop and flat two weeks later, pinene is usually the difference.
Terpene Data
Chemical FormulaC₁₀H₁₆
Boiling Point155°C / 311°F
EffectEnergizing
AromaFresh pine, forest, sharp and sweet
Surviving the Dry
155°C
Most volatile (100°C)Most heat-tolerant (230°C)
Middling. It survives a careful dry and quietly disappears from a hot one.
Medical Benefits
Also Found In
- Pine needles
- Rosemary
- Basil
- Dill
- Parsley
High in These Strains
Commonly Confused With
Terpinolene
Terpinolene has pine in it, but there is a floral note sitting on top. Pinene is straight conifer, no flowers.
View terpeneEucalyptol
Both read clean, but eucalyptol is cold and minty in the sinuses. Pinene is resinous and dry.
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