Indian Prickly Ash
Note Profile
About
Indian prickly ash is the fruit of Zanthoxylum rhetsa, a tree of the same genus as Sichuan pepper and timur. Perfumery uses it as a bright top note: citrus first, then a tingling pepperiness. Two Parfumo placements both put it in a green, citrus-led opening. No source found describes Z. rhetsa itself.
Scent Profile
Indian prickly ash opens as a bright, green citrus top note, close to bergamot. A tingling, peppery spiciness rises under it, the trait the whole genus is used for. Behind that sits a fruity sweetness like lychee and mixed berries, and in some readings a cool, minty wintergreen freshness that ordinary citrus does not carry. A faint herbal, terpenic warmth runs through the base.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
The dried fruit and pericarp of Zanthoxylum rhetsa, a tree of the Rutaceae family found across India and South East Asia. Wikipedia gives 'Indian prickly ash' as the common English name for that species. The genus is the same one that yields Sichuan pepper (Z. bungeanum) and timur (Z. armatum). It is not related to ash in the ordinary English sense: Fraxinus is a different family entirely, and the shared word is the whole overlap. The two trade sources reached that describe an odour both sell oil labelled Z. armatum, not Z. rhetsa.
Usage in Perfumery
A top note. Parfumo attests the term twice, both times at the top: Histoires de Parfums 7753, beside ivy, galbanum and Italian bergamot, and Heretic Midnight Toker, beside cistus and patchouli CO2. Both are green, citrus-forward openings. It does the job pink pepper and Sichuan pepper do, adding lift and a prickle to a citrus start.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Indian Prickly Ash
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Indian Prickly Ash appears prominently.
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