Moss Flox
Note Profile
About
Moss Flox is the smell of Phlox subulata, the mat-forming ground cover also sold as moss phlox, creeping phlox or moss pink. It is not the tall garden phlox published here as Phlox. Two things are attested and they pull in opposite directions. The flowers carry a sweet honey-like scent that is strongest at dusk. The plant as a whole has a musky, skunky odour that three independent sources compare to marijuana. The note holds both.
Scent Profile
Moss Flox is named for a flower, though the bloom itself is rarely described in floral terms. What people agree on is a sweet, honey-like scent from the flowers, strongest at dusk. The crushed foliage is a different story: green, herbal and faintly sulphurous, with a musky, animal edge that people keep comparing to marijuana. The note holds both, a honeyed bloom above a musky, green plant.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Phlox subulata, a low creeping perennial of eastern North America, grown as a rock-garden and border ground cover. No manufacturer sells an extract of it. Givaudan, Firmenich, IFF, Symrise, ScenTree and Eden Botanicals publish nothing under Moss Flox or Phlox subulata. Every citable description is horticultural. Wikipedia says the odour of the plants may be mistaken for that of marijuana. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources says the same in four words: creeping phlox smells like marijuana.
Usage in Perfumery
Used as an imagined garden note rather than a bought material. It appears on one perfume in the data and on none in Parfumo. Gardening Know How places the honeyed sweetness in the flowers at dusk, where it draws moth pollinators, and the cannabis-like muskiness in the leaves when they are crushed underfoot.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Moss Flox
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Moss Flox appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.