Citrus

Finger Lime

Note Profile

Botanical 1 perfume

About

Finger lime is the fruit of Citrus australasica, an Australian citrus whose pulp comes as loose round vesicles instead of segments. It smells of lime with a floral lift the common lime does not carry, and the juice is sour and pungent. The caviar name is about how the pulp looks, not how it smells.

Scent Profile

Finger Lime smells of lime first, sharp and citrus-bright. A floral lift rises above the citrus that ordinary lime does not have. The juice itself is sour and pungent, the clearest thing that separates it from other limes. Underneath runs a green, herbal edge and a rounder, fruity note beneath the peel.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeTop · ~2h lasting

Family Fresh & Citrus, Fruity, Floral

Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.

Origin

Citrus australasica, a thorny tree of the rainforest margins of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. The fruit is finger-shaped and its pulp is made of spherical juice vesicles. No commercial essential oil or absolute of it was found, so perfumery reaches the note through headspace work and reconstruction, and every published odour description traces to food science rather than to a supplier. Three chemotypes have been reported that appear in no other Citrus species: limonene/sabinene, limonene/citronellal/isomenthone and limonene/citronellal/citronellol.

Usage in Perfumery

Used as a top note to put an unusual, floral-edged lime into a citrus opening. It sits with green citrus, light herbs and small florals, and it reads sharper and more floral than lime. 32 Fragrantica perfumes and 23 Parfumo placements across 16 brands carry it, so it is in real use rather than a curiosity. Cultivar choice matters more here than for most citrus, because the reported chemotypes differ.