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Dyer's Greenweed

Q: Is Dyer's Greenweed natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: Not commercially extracted for perfumery. The plant was historically used for dyeing rather than fragrance. Steam distillation is theoretically possible but not practiced at scale..

FLOWERS / green · floral · fresh

Dyer's Greenweed

Category	FLOWERS
Subcategory	green · floral · fresh
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Genista tinctoria
Appearance	Colorless to pale yellow liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Asia, Europe
Pyramid	Heart

A faint, broom-like sweetness with a green-herbaceous backbone. The yellow flowers carry a subtle, slightly coumarin-tinged scent, like hay in sunlight.

Scent
Terroir & Origins
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Faintly sweet with a broom-like quality and green-herbaceous undertones. A subtle coumarin note provides warm sweetness. Less pungent than gorse, less coconut-like than scotch broom. The overall impression is gentle, sunny, and agricultural rather than ornamental.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Faint green-sweet, broom-like

After a few hours

Warm coumarin, herbaceous softness

After a few days

Gentle sweet-herbaceous trace

Terroir & Origins

Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.

The Full Story

Dyer's greenweed (Genista tinctoria) is a shrub in the legume family (Fabaceae) native to Europe and western Asia. Historically, it was cultivated as a source of yellow dye: the flowers and young shoots produce a yellow pigment when combined with alum as a mordant. The plant also produces green dye when combined with woad (blue).

The flowers have a subtle, broom-like fragrance: faintly sweet, slightly coumarin-tinged, with a green-herbaceous quality. The scent is less intense than that of scotch broom or gorse but shares the same family character. In perfumery, dyer's greenweed is a natural note, though rarely used. The plant contains isoflavones, flavonoids, and small amounts of volatile compounds.

When represented in fragrance, the note functions as a modifier in herbaceous, Mediterranean, and craft-heritage compositions. It provides a quiet, artisanal quality referencing textile and dye traditions rather than garden beauty.

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

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Did You Know?

Did you know?

Lincoln green, the color associated with Robin Hood, was traditionally produced by dyeing wool first with woad (blue) and then overdyeing with dyer's greenweed (yellow). The same double-dyeing technique produced the green fabrics of medieval European textile production.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Not commercially extracted for perfumery. The plant was historically used for dyeing rather than fragrance. Steam distillation is theoretically possible but not practiced at scale.

↑ See Terroir & Origins for origin-specific methods.

Molecular Formula	Complex mixture; contains genistein (C₁₅H₁₀O₅), luteolin
CAS Number	90045-53-7 (Genista tinctoria extract)
Botanical Name	Genista tinctoria
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	Dyer's Broom, Greenweed, Genista
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Colorless to pale yellow liquid

In Perfumery

Dyer's greenweed is a rare natural modifier in herbaceous and craft-heritage compositions. It provides quiet broom-like sweetness with coumarin undertones. The historical dyeing association gives it narrative value in compositions referencing textile arts and artisanal traditions. Rarely distilled commercially.