Note · Woods
Rosewood
Aniba rosodora
Amazonian rosewood smells of rose, citrus and pale wood. Overharvested, it is now protected, and its note is most often recomposed.
What it brings
A very soft woody, floral freshness.
Origins and uses
The rosewood of perfumery comes from Aniba rosaeodora, a tree of the laurel family that grows in the humid forests of the Amazon and the Guiana Shield. Its wood is distilled to obtain an essential oil rich in linalool, an odorous molecule widely used in perfumery and cosmetics. Harvested from the wild, the tree is now threatened: it is listed as "endangered" by the IUCN and included in Appendix II of CITES, which regulates its trade.
Its scent blends rose, citrus and a pale, slightly spicy wood. To protect the species, the note is often recreated, notably around linalool. It is used in the top or heart, where it softens woods and links flowers to citrus.
In our catalogue, rosewood opens Alexandria II by Xerjoff, with apple and cinnamon, and surrounds the oud of Oud Wood by Tom Ford.
Text written with the help of AI, based on reference sources: encyclopedias, raw-material manufacturers and official information from the fragrance houses.
Material profile
- Family
- Woods
- Nature
- Natural material
- Botanical name
- Aniba rosodora
- Origin
- The Amazon; a protected species, often replaced by linalool.
- How it is obtained
- Steam distillationRecomposed by the perfumer
- On Volute
- 5 fragrances
The fragrances that reveal it
In the same family · Woods
- Akigalawood
- Ambery cedar notes
- Amyris
- Baobab
- Black hemlock
- Blond woods
- Cade oil
- Cashmeran
- Cashmere wood
- Cedarwood
- Clearwood
- Coconut wood
- Cypress
- Cypriol
- Driftwood
- Ebony wood
- Fig wood
- Fir
- Georgywood
- Guaiac wood
- Kingwood
- Lorenox
- Mahogany
- Musky woody notes
- Oak
- Orcanox
- Oud
- Palo santo
- Papyrus
- Patchouli
- Pine
- Pine needles
- Sandalwood
- Smoked wood accord
- Teak
- Thuja
- Vetiver
- Woody notes