L'artisan Fleur de Liane

Henri Rousseau. (French, 1844-1910). The Dream. 1910 at the MoMA



When the Scented Salamander described the new vine based Fleur de Liane I was intrigued by the concept of "eternal feminine" embodied in the moist embrace of a jungle plant. Or as I like to call it Green Vajeen.


Georgia O'Keeffe
Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, 1930

Well I just got to smell it at Barney's and it is fabulous, the scent of the Tropical Pavillion at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It was only a quick sniff, but I wanted to share these first excited impressions. Of the "green" fragrances I've smelled, this is the first to capture the lush foliage of that jungle greenhouse. The official notes include guava, and though there is a slight sweetness it is not a fruity tropical concoction, but rather a dense and soothing forest that will be a great joy to wear in the cooler months. It captures jungle rain without calone or the mysterious molon notes of Apres la Mousson, instead relying on what seem to be moss and cut stem notes to conjure up the rain.



If you need a reason to consider research training at the National Museum of Natural History, I can give you two.

1: Viki worked in their Hall of Insects for a summer, and observed that in April the bee hive produced fragrant yellow honey from D.C. cherry blossoms, but that by July the honey had become foul smelling and black, as the bees discovered the much closer ice cream wrappers and spilled sodas at the entrance of the museum.

2: This young scientist in their program is the first thing that comes up when you search for "butt nut". (Lodoicea maldivica) And doesn't he look like John Kratz?