GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / green · sweet · fresh
Sweet Grass
Category
GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory
green · sweet · fresh
Origin
Volatility
Heart Note
Botanical
Anthoxanthum nitens
Appearance
colorless to amber yellow clear oily liquid
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
North America
Pyramid
Heart
Vanilla-hay sweetness from sun-dried braids. Sweet grass smells of coumarin and summer meadow: warm, clean, and sacred, with the same molecule that scents tonka bean and new-mown hay.
Warm, vanilla-hay sweetness from coumarin. A clean, grassy freshness underneath the sweetness. The dried-grass quality distinguishes it from pure coumarin or tonka bean. More outdoor-meadow than kitchen-vanilla. When burned, it takes on a sweet-smoky incense character used in ceremony.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Green-grassy, faint coumarin
After a few hours
After a few hours
Warm vanilla-hay sweetness, coumarin develops
After a few days
After a few days
Persistent sweet-hay warmth
Terroir & Transformation
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Sweet grass (Anthoxanthum nitens, syn. Hierochloe odorata) is an aromatic perennial grass native to northern Eurasia and North America. It is sacred to many Indigenous peoples of North America, who braid and dry the grass for ceremonial use, burning it as incense for purification and prayer.
The characteristic sweet vanilla scent comes from coumarin, the same molecule found in tonka bean, lavender, and fresh hay. The coumarin develops as the grass dries, much like deer tongue grass. Fresh sweet grass has a mild green scent; dried sweet grass releases its full vanilla-hay warmth.
In perfumery, sweet grass provides a natural coumarin source with a specifically grassy, outdoor quality that synthetic coumarin lacks. It functions as a modifier in sacred, smoky, and hay-themed compositions. The note carries cultural significance and should be used respectfully given its ceremonial importance to Indigenous communities.
This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
In Sami tradition, sweet grass braids are stored with clothing to perfume them and repel moths. The coumarin that provides the scent is the same compound that was used as a precursor to the anticoagulant warfarin, discovered when cattle eating moldy sweet clover (containing coumarin) developed fatal bleeding.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: The dried grass can be tinctured or extracted with solvents. Steam distillation is possible but less common. The drying process is essential for coumarin development. Most perfumery use involves tincture of the dried braids.
Complex mixture: coumarin (C₉H₆O₂, principal odorant), phytol (C₂₀H₄₀O)
CAS Number
91770-13-7
Botanical Name
Anthoxanthum nitens
IFRA Status
Restricted — contains high levels of natural coumarin, which is IFRA-regulated. Maximum usage levels depend on product category.
Synonyms
holy grass, vanilla grass
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
colorless to amber yellow clear oily liquid
Specific Gravity
0.89000 to 0.97000 @ 25.00 °C.
Refractive Index
1.47900 to 1.48600 @ 20.00 °C.
In Perfumery
Sweet grass provides natural coumarin character with a specifically grassy, outdoor quality in hay, sacred-incense, and natural compositions. The coumarin develops during drying, paralleling deer tongue grass and tonka bean. When burned (as in ceremonial use), it adds a sweet-smoky incense quality. The note carries cultural significance in Indigenous North American traditions.
