Milkweeds
Note Profile
About
Milkweeds are the Asclepias genus, North American perennials that bleed a white latex sap when a stem or leaf breaks. About 140 species carry the name. Two are described by the sources found here: common milkweed (A. syriaca) and swamp milkweed (A. incarnata).
Scent Profile
Green leads and is the broken stem itself. The sap is described as 'crushed green stems with a creamy, slightly acrid undertone'. Lactonic is second and carries the white sap, the quality the genus name and the trade source both point at. Honeyed and floral sit in the middle and belong to a different register. Premiere Peau says outright that 'the flower scent is quite distinct from the sap and leaf character', and calls A. syriaca flowers 'a heavy, honeyed scent similar to of lilac and vanilla'. Sweet vanillic follows that same flower register. A naturalist reports swamp milkweed flowers are 'often described as vanilla-scented', so two independent sources put vanilla on the flower. Below those sit a slight rubberiness at sulphurous, a faint acridity at sour, and small amounts of powder, clean musk and earth. The spreads are wide on purpose. This note covers two smells that no source reconciles, and the vector leans on the sap because that is the register the trade source says perfumery means.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
No commercial milkweed extract or absolute exists. Premiere Peau states that directly. Any milkweed note in a perfume is a built accord, so the word names the smell of the living plant, not a bottled material.
Usage in Perfumery
Four Fragrantica placements, none on Parfumo. Perfumery uses the word for the green sappy stem, not the flower. Premiere Peau: 'In perfumery, milkweed typically references the green, sappy, lactonic quality of the plant rather than the flower.' The same source says the flower side is built separately, from heliotropin and linalool.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Milkweeds
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Milkweeds appears prominently.
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