Just On Time
EDT · 2018
LA RIVE
Favourite
Grass Tree
Note Profile
About
Grass tree is the resin of Xanthorrhoea, an Australian plant that is not a tree and not a grass. The note is phenolic smoke over a dark balsamic resin, with a honeyed warmth underneath. It smells burnt rather than burning. Première Peau compares it to a hollow trunk still smouldering after a grass fire. Resin suppliers describe the raw resin as balsamic and benzoin-like.
Scent Profile
Grass Tree smells of phenolic smoke over a dark, balsamic resin, ancient, dry and woody rather than freshly burning, like a hollow trunk still smouldering after a bushfire. It is less tarry than birch tar. A honey-sweet warmth sits underneath the smoke, and it is what stops the note reading as pure char. A faint sweet, balsamic trace closes it, closer to burning balsam than to anything vanilla-like.
ScentWheel
Breadthbroad
EnvelopeBase · ~24h lasting
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Seen in
Tap a perfume to see where Grass Tree sits in it. The rest of the picture goes grey
Origin
Xanthorrhoea species from Australia. The 19th-century Dispensatory records it burning with a smoky flame and giving off an odour not unlike balsam of Tolu, and being slightly astringent and aromatic when chewed. It is not carried in mainstream perfumery supply chains and no manufacturer publishes an olfactive data sheet for it.
Usage in Perfumery
A base note in incense compositions. It sits where benzoin would sit structurally but reads far more phenolic, so it is used when a balsamic base needs a burnt edge that benzoin cannot give. It is dry enough to carry a woody accord and sweet enough not to read as pure tar.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Grass Tree
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Grass Tree appears prominently.
