Home › Glossary › Silverthorn Flower

Silverthorn Flower

Q: Is Silverthorn Flower natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: No commercial extraction exists for Elaeagnus pungens flowers. The note is reconstructed as a fantasy accord..

FLOWERS / floral · fruity · fresh

Silverthorn Flower

Category	FLOWERS
Subcategory	floral · fruity · fresh
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Elaeagnus pungens
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber viscous liquid (Elaeagnus pungens extract)
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	China, Japan, East Asia
Pyramid	Heart

Tiny, silvery, intensely fragrant autumn flowers. Silverthorn (Elaeagnus pungens) blooms small and hidden but fills the air with a sweet, almost gardenia-like perfume from metres away.

Scent
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Sweet, gardenia-like, honeyed, with surprising carrying power. The flowers are tiny but the scent is enormous. Warmer than jasmine, less indolic than tuberose, with a particular silvery-green edge from the foliage. Think of walking past a hedge and being stopped by an unexpectedly powerful wave of sweetness.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Sweet gardenia-like burst, honeyed, powerful projection

After a few hours

Warm white-floral sweetness, green-silvery edge

After a few days

Soft sweet-floral warmth, moderate persistence

The Full Story

Silverthorn (Elaeagnus pungens) is an evergreen shrub whose tiny, inconspicuous autumn flowers produce a notably powerful fragrance -- sweet, gardenia-like, with a warm, honeyed depth. The scent carries on air from considerable distance despite the flowers being barely visible among the silvery foliage.

No commercial essential oil or absolute of Elaeagnus flowers is produced. The scent is reconstructed as a sweet, warm, white-floral accord: gardenia-like sweetness (from methyl benzoate and benzyl acetate), honeyed warmth (phenylacetic acid), and a green-silvery note for the foliage context. The power and carrying quality of the natural scent is difficult to replicate.

Functionally, silverthorn flower works as a sweet white-floral heart note. Its charm lies in the contrast between visual insignificance and olfactory power -- tiny flowers with enormous scent projection.

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

—

Did You Know?

Did you know?

Elaeagnus pungens flowers use their intense fragrance to attract late-season pollinators (primarily moths and flies) during autumn, when most other flowers have finished blooming. The strategy works: silverthorn produces fruit in spring while its competitors are still flowering.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: No commercial extraction exists for Elaeagnus pungens flowers. The note is reconstructed as a fantasy accord.

Molecular Formula	N/A - natural plant
CAS Number	N/A - natural flower
Botanical Name	Elaeagnus pungens
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	silverthorn, silverthorn blossom
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber viscous liquid (Elaeagnus pungens extract)

In Perfumery

Silverthorn flower is a sweet white-floral heart note: gardenia-like sweetness (methyl benzoate, benzyl acetate), honeyed warmth (phenylacetic acid), and a silvery-green foliage edge. Powerful and carrying despite the flowers' visual insignificance. Works in white-floral, garden, and surprise-effect compositions.