A few cookies — Première Peau and its partners, including Shopify, use them to personalize your visit, measure audiences and show relevant ads.
Privacy
Green, waxy-tropical, starchy. Massive leaf territory — think banana leaf but larger, less fruity, more architectural. Humid air, stored water, chlorophyll-rich foliage. Vegetal density without sweetness.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Green waxy-tropical, starchy, humid
After a few hours
After a few hours
Warm vegetal density, less sharp, more earthy
After a few days
After a few days
Faint green-waxy residue, tropical warmth
The Full Story
Ravenala (Ravenala madagascariensis), the traveller's tree or traveller's palm (actually a member of Strelitziaceae, not a palm), is native to Madagascar. Its enormous fan-shaped leaf arrangement is unmistakable.
No commercial extraction exists. The concept note captures the scent of massive tropical foliage: waxy green, starchy, humid, with the stored-water quality of leaf bases that collect rainwater. Related to banana and heliconia scents.
The name 'traveller's tree' comes from the water stored in leaf bases, which thirsty travelers could drink — though the water is often stagnant and insect-inhabited. The leaves can reach 3 meters in length.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Albâtre Sépia. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Ravenala is pollinated by ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) — one of the few examples of mammalian pollination outside the bat world. The lemurs open the tough flower bracts with their hands to access nectar, getting pollen on their snouts in the process.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No commercial extraction exists.
Molecular Formula
N/A — complex natural material
CAS Number
N/A — natural plant material
Botanical Name
Ravenala madagascariensis
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
TRAVELER'S TREE
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber viscous liquid
In Perfumery
Fantasy tropical-green note providing massive-leaf character. No extraction exists. Built from waxy-green, starchy, and humid-tropical elements. Functions in tropical and green compositions seeking vegetal scale and density.