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Cannonball Flower

Q: Is Cannonball Flower natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: No commercial extraction exists. Some headspace analyses published. Entirely a fantasy reconstruction..

FLOWERS / floral · fruity · powdery

Cannonball Flower

Category	FLOWERS
Subcategory	floral · fruity · powdery
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Couroupita guianensis
Appearance	pale yellow to yellow clear liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	South America
Pyramid	Heart

Sweet, complex, fruity-floral with a medicinal edge. The cannonball tree flowers smell like a richer, stranger plumeria — tropical, narcotic, temple-scented.

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Sweet, complex, narcotic-tropical. Plumeria-like but richer, with fruity depth and faint medicinal-salicylate edge. Temple-scented — devotional quality, old-world tropical sweetness that feels ceremonial.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Sweet narcotic tropical, fruity-floral, medicinal edge

After a few hours

Warm ceremonial sweetness, plumeria-like

After a few days

Persistent sweet-tropical warmth, faint fermentative note

The Full Story

The cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) produces spectacular fragrant flowers directly from its trunk. Native to the Amazon, widely planted as a sacred tree near Hindu and Buddhist temples in South and Southeast Asia.

Sweet, complex fragrance: fruity-floral, slightly medicinal, with narcotic richness. More complex frangipani/plumeria, with fruity depth and faintly fermentative edge.

No commercial extraction exists. The fantasy accord draws on temple associations: sweet, sacred, narcotic-tropical. Plumeria-type bases, fruity esters, methyl salicylate for the medicinal edge.

Called 'Nagalingam' in Sanskrit, believed to resemble a Shiva lingam with cobra hood. Despite Amazonian origin, it became a sacred species in South Asian temples.

This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Related: Acerola Blossom · Albizia · Anisaldehyde · Apple Blossom · Babys Breath · Campion Flower · Cotton Flower · Cyclamen

Did You Know?

Did you know?

Cannonball tree fruits weigh up to 3 kg and fall with enough force to injure — warning signs are posted in botanical gardens. The fruits crack open to reveal foul-smelling blue-green pulp that attracts peccaries for seed dispersal.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: No commercial extraction exists. Some headspace analyses published. Entirely a fantasy reconstruction.

Molecular Formula	Complex mixture; contains linalool, eugenol, nerol
CAS Number	Not assigned (Couroupita guianensis flower)
Botanical Name	Couroupita guianensis
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	Couroupita, Monkey Pod, Cannonball Tree
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	pale yellow to yellow clear liquid

In Perfumery

Fantasy tropical-sacred floral. No extraction exists. Built from plumeria-type bases, fruity esters, salicylate compounds. Functions in temple-themed and exotic floral compositions.