Tuberose
14 fragrances with this note
Part of accords: Floral, White floral, Tuberose
- Latin name
- Polianthes tuberosa (Agave amica)
- Family
- Asparagus family (Asparagaceae)
- Origin
- India; the plant is native to Mexico
- Parts used
- flowers
- Raw materials
- concrete, absolute
- Extraction
- solvent extraction (historically enfleurage)
- Olfactory group
- floral (white flowers)
- Position in the pyramid
- heart
- Synthetic substitutes
- methyl salicylate, methyl benzoate, lactones
Tuberose is a tall plant with waxy white flowers gathered in a spike on a long stem. It is native to Mexico, and today the main producer of tuberose absolute is India. The flowers smell strongest in the evening and at night.
How it smells: lush, creamy and heady: white flowers, butter, coconut, honey, with a faintly rubbery and camphoraceous shade. Tuberose is one of the loudest and most sensual flowers in perfumery, a true “queen of the night”.
Tuberose flowers keep releasing their scent even after cutting, so they were once ideal for enfleurage — left on fat for a long time. Today the absolute is obtained by extraction and remains one of the more expensive materials.
What it pairs with: with jasmine and orange blossom — a luxurious white-floral bouquet, with coconut and ylang-ylang — tropical fragrances, with vanilla and sandalwood — warm creamy sensuality, with greens — a fresh “garden” tuberose, with leather — dark and dramatic.
Good to know: tuberose has long had a reputation as a “dangerous” flower: according to an old belief, its heady night-time scent could turn heads, so young women were advised not to stroll among tuberose beds in the evening.
Fragrances with Tuberose
