Syringa Absolute

#### Syringa. A very common and popular garden shrub is **Philadelphus Coronarius**, a native of northern and temperate zones in Europe and Asia. The shrub is cultivated in Europe and the U.S.A. as an ornamental plant, and it is known for its wealth of strongly fragrant white flowers. The orange-flower-like odor of these flowers is probably the reason for the common name **"Mock**** ****Orange**" for the shrub. The name **Syringa **is somewhat confusing and erroneous since it truly is the generic name for the lilacs (see monograph on **Lilac**) while the "**Mock Orange**" truly is a **Philadelphus**** **species. Small amounts of philadelphus coronarius flowers are extracted in the south of France, and an absolute is marketed under the name of **"Absolu de Seringe**". This material is an amber colored, very viscous liquid of rich and sweet- floral odor, reminiscent of honeysuckle, gardenia, orange flower, etc. The odor is soft and very tenacious without any indolic notes. **Syringa**** ****Absolute**** **would no doubt find some application in floral perfume bases, in modern aldehydic-floral colognes, in jasmin modifications, in ambre and cassie bases, etc., if the material would become freely available. Its reasonable cost (less than jasmin and orange flower absolutes) should indicate that a large-scale production could bring the price further down to a very attractive level and thus result in a more general and wide use of this interesting perfume material.