Sweet, hay-like, coumarin-rich. Melilotus is dried clover that smells like a sunlit barn — warm, honeyed, with the vanilla-adjacent sweetness of new-mown hay.
Sweet, warm, hay-like with a distinct coumarin signature. The smell of drying sweet clover in late summer sun — honeyed, slightly vanilla-adjacent, with a green-herbaceous undertone. Richer and more botanical than pure synthetic coumarin, which is flatter and more one-dimensional. Faintly tobacco-like in its warmth.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Sweet coumarin hay, warm, honeyed green
After a few hours
After a few hours
Deeper vanilla-adjacent warmth, less green, more tobacco-like
After a few days
After a few days
Persistent soft coumarin sweetness, warm hay residue
The Full Story
Melilotus (sweet clover, Melilotus officinalis and Melilotus alba) is a leguminous plant whose dried leaves and flowers are dominated by coumarin — the molecule responsible for the characteristic new-mown hay scent. Fresh melilotus is mildly fragrant; drying and wilting dramatically increase coumarin release as bound coumaric acid glycosides are enzymatically cleaved.
Coumarin (CAS 91-64-5) is one of perfumery's foundational materials. First isolated from tonka bean in 1820, it was the first synthetic fragrance molecule produced industrially (1868). Melilotus provides a natural source with a particular hay-herbaceous character.
Melilotus officinalis is native to Eurasia and now naturalized worldwide. It grows in disturbed soils, roadsides, and meadows. The plant is also significant in agriculture as a cover crop and in apiculture — the honey produced from melilotus fields has a particular mild flavor.
In perfumery, melilotus absolute provides a natural coumarin-hay note with herbaceous complexity absent from synthetic coumarin alone.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Rose Monotone. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Dicoumarol, a coumarin derivative that forms when Melilotus hay spoils, was the compound that led to the discovery of warfarin (the blood thinner). In the 1920s, cattle fed moldy sweet clover hay died from internal hemorrhaging, leading Karl Paul Link to identify dicoumarol as the anticoagulant responsible.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Solvent extraction of dried Melilotus officinalis or Melilotus alba herbage yields melilotus absolute. The plant must be dried or wilted to develop full coumarin content — enzymatic cleavage of coumaric acid glycosides occurs during wilting. Steam distillation is possible but produces a lighter product with less coumarin. Wild-harvested in Europe.
Molecular Formula
Key odorant: coumarin (C₉H₆O₂, CAS 91-64-5)
CAS Number
84082-81-5
Botanical Name
Melilotus officinalis
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
SWEET CLOVER · YELLOW MELILOT · WHITE MELILOT
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Colorless to pale yellow liquid
In Perfumery
Melilotus provides a natural coumarin-hay heart-to-base note. Its absolute delivers coumarin (new-mown hay, vanilla-adjacent sweetness) with additional herbaceous-green complexity. Used in fougères (where coumarin is foundational alongside lavender and oakmoss), hay accords, meadow compositions, and soft ambers. The natural extract adds depth that synthetic coumarin alone cannot — traces of green, herbal, and honey notes. Pairs with lavender, oakmoss, and tonka in classic fougère construction.
