Mimosa
Acacia dealbata
Family: Fabaceae · Also called Silver Wattle, Blue Wattle, Acacia, Acacia dealbata, Acacia oleifolia, Racosperma leucolobium
Citrus & Bright · Winter–Spring bloomer
Mimosa is sunshine bottled in botanical form, cascading branches of tiny, fluffy golden pompoms that transform winter landscapes into a blaze of yellow. Originally from Australia, it has made the Mediterranean its second home, carpeting hillsides from the Côte d'Azur to Morocco. The powdery, honey-sweet fragrance is captured in one of perfumery's most distinctive absolutes.
sensitivity, elegance, secret love
In the Victorian language of flowers, mimosa means “Sensitivity and secret love”. Mimosa signals the arrival of spring on the French Riviera, the Fête du Mimosa in Bormes-les-Mimosas celebrates with parades of mimosa-covered floats. On International Women's Day (March 8), it's traditional in Italy to give women sprigs of mimosa. The Australian species colonized the Mediterranean coast in the 19th century.
Did You Know?
What Europeans call 'mimosa' is actually an Acacia from Australia, true Mimosa is a different genus entirely (the sensitive plant that folds when touched). The confusion dates from early colonial botany. Mimosa absolute is extracted by solvent from the flowers and is a key note in many classic perfumes.
Open forests and woodland of southeastern Australia; naturalized across Mediterranean
Mimosa is native to Australia. It naturally grows in open forests and woodland of southeastern australia; naturalized across mediterranean.
Scent Profile
“A warm, honeyed-powdery scent with green and anisic facets, luminous and enveloping, the fragrance of the Côte d'Azur in February.”
Quick Reference
- Scientific NameAcacia dealbata
- FamilyFabaceae
- Native ToAustralia
- Bloom SeasonWinter–Spring
- LifespanPerennial
Cultural Significance
Mimosa signals the arrival of spring on the French Riviera, the Fête du Mimosa in Bormes-les-Mimosas celebrates with parades of mimosa-covered floats. On International Women's Day (March 8), it's traditional in Italy to give women sprigs of mimosa. The Australian species colonized the Mediterranean coast in the 19th century.