Jasmine

Native to northern India, it is thought to have been brought to Spain by the Moors, if its name yasamin (“the flower” in Arabic) is anything to go by. Its starry corolla opens only at night and takes on its heady fragrance at dawn. Its fragility contrasts with its powerful aroma. The extract from the flower is more or less green, more or less fruity, honeyed and animalic, depending on whether it is the grandiflorum or sambac variety.