Freesia

Group: Flowers

Freesia is a charming herbaceous plant in the family Iridaceae. This flower is native to Africa and grows mostly in the Cape Province, South Africa. Of 14 different species of Freesia, 12 of them are native to this region, while the remaining couple grows in tropical Africa, one of them even north of the equator to Sudan. Freesia is distinguished by long and lightly branched stem with a couple of leaves and fragrant narrowly funnel-shaped flowers.

Freesias are available in rainbow of hues, but most of them are white with a delicate purple flush on the outer side, or graced with a yellow mark on one of the petals. These lovely flowers can be purple, orange, red, yellow or pink, and the most interesting fact about them is that each of the colorful blossoms smells differently. The strongest and headiest fragrance of all the freesias emanates from pink and red varieties, but all of these deliciously scented flowers have been used in perfumery for many years. This plant is now one of the most popular and widely grown cut flowers, even though the most of the contemporary hybrids are not as noticeably fragrant as the old varieties.

Freesia was discovered about 200 years ago by Dr. Christian P. Ecklon who named it after his close friend - German botanist, Friedrich H. T. Freese. Since then, freesia is used as an ornamental plant in all world regions bestowed with mild winter climate. In the language of flowers, freesia symbolizes innocence and friendship. Freesia is also one of the traditional presents for couples who celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary.

Depending on the exact variety of freesia, its color and conditions in which it is grown, freesias may demonstrate different olfactory qualities. One of the isolates that are most commonly found in nearly all varieties of freesia is linalool, a compound that is responsible for light and refreshing floral-woody scent with slight citrusy twist. But, for many objective reasons, production of freesia essential oil or absolute is not practiced in modern perfumery. In other words, the essence of freesia is not contained in our fragrances in its pure form, but rather reproduced in the laboratory combining other ingredients with similar olfactory properties. Freesia note is, therefore, differently portrait in different fragrances, since it actually represents the perfumer’s intimate perceptions of the fragrant properties of the flower.

This light and green floral scent is commonly used in bodycare products, by favor of its distinctively fresh fragrance. In the world of perfumery, there are a number of interesting freesia fragrances including English Pear and Freesia by Jo Malone, Oscar de la Renta’s Oscar Sheer Freesia and romantic and gentle Chiffon Peony Freesia by Victoria`s Secret. The imaginative and playful world of niche perfumery has also offered a couple of fragrant interpretations of freesia. Probably the best example is bright floral-aldehyde fragrance for women Musc Et Freesia by E. Coudray.

Other fragrances that contain freesia note can be found listed below this article.

Perfumes and Colognes With Freesia