Datura is a white floral note inspired by the trumpet-shaped flowers of Datura, a genus of poisonous plants in the nightshade family, native mainly to Mexico. The flowers open in the evening and release a sweet, heady scent; in perfume the note is always an accord, usually creamy, narcotic and slightly exotic, with a darker, more mysterious mood than jasmine or tuberose.

What does Datura smell like?

Datura accords tend to be lush and sweet, with a creamy white floral heart, a faintly lemony or green brightness at the start and a warm, almost coconut-like or balsamic softness underneath. Perfumers often lean on its reputation: the plant's toxicity and use in ritual give the note a dangerous, nocturnal image, so datura perfumes are frequently richer and darker than their ingredient list would suggest. Compared with tuberose, datura is usually less rubbery and buttery; compared with jasmine, it is less indolic and more rounded.

How perfumers create Datura

No extract is made from datura, and the plant is far too toxic to process for fragrance. The note is built from white floral materials such as benzyl salicylate, methyl benzoate, Hedione and jasmine lactones, lifted by citrus or green aldehydes and softened with coconut-like lactones, vanilla, almond or tonka.

• Also known as: Thorn apple, jimsonweed, devil's trumpet (not to be confused with angel's trumpet, Brugmansia)
• Fragrance family: Floral (white floral)
• Type: Accord (created by the perfumer)
• Key aroma molecules: Benzyl salicylate, lactones, Hedione, methyl benzoate

Datura in perfume history

Datura has a long cultural history but no perfumery tradition. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine and atropine, and several species were used ritually by Indigenous peoples in North America, in Aztec practice and in Ayurvedic tradition in India, while in Europe the plant became linked with witchcraft. The genus includes around nine to fourteen species, among them Datura stramonium, Datura innoxia and Datura metel. As a named perfume note it belongs to modern, story-led perfumery rather than to any classical tradition.

Datura in modern perfumery

Datura appears mostly in niche perfumery, where its story fits dark, sensual white floral themes. It is often grouped with other evening flowers and used to give a composition a sense of heat and intoxication without the heaviness of pure tuberose.

How Datura wears and what it pairs with

Datura sits in the heart and, thanks to its creamy supporting materials, lasts well into the drydown (the final stage of a scent on skin). It pairs with tuberose, jasmine sambac, coconut, almond, vanilla, sandalwood, citrus and musk.

Safety and regulation

The datura plant is highly poisonous, but perfumes do not contain it: the note is a reconstruction from standard fragrance materials.