This Fragrance House Makes Perfumes Using the DNA of Extinct Flowers

The extinct flower: Wendlandia angustifolia, last recorded in India’s Western Mountains circa 1917. Extinct by drought. 

Invisible Woods is filled with contrasting notes that turn it into something special. The scent is woodsy, but it's also citrusy and grounding thanks to notes like ginger, grapefruit, eucalyptus, and chamomile. "This flower grew on a forest bed in India, and it disappeared due to drought conditions, and then it came back many decades later, only to disappear again, and it hasn't been seen since," says Aganovic. "So it's presumed extinct, but it may still be there just looking for the right conditions to bloom."

The extinct flower: Hibiscadelphus wilderianus, last recorded in the Hawaiian Southern Slope circa 1912. Extinct by deforestation. 

Since this scent comes from Hawaii, it's only fair that it feels appropriately sun-soaked and tropical. It's fruity and sweet thanks to notes like magnolia, lychee, pistachio, and pink sugar. 

The extinct flower: Macrostylis villosa, last recorded in South Africa circa 1960. Extinct by urbanization. 

Making an interesting rose is a feat, even if you're dealing with extinct flowers. This rose scent isn't just unique because of Macrostylis villosa, the flowering shrub at its core, but also because of passionfruit, saffron, and black pepper. 

The extinct flower: Orbexilum stipulatum, last recorded in the North American Plains circa 1812. Extinct by buffalo migration. 

As a Western girl at heart, I am brought back to wide-open spaces in Colorado when I smell Grassland Opera, even if it's a scent I've never quite experienced before. This ambery scent feels particularly unique to me not just thanks to the extinct flower it's inspired by but also by its interesting note composition—clary sage, fig leaves, and ginger meld with three different woods for a scent that evokes the best of the Plains. 

The extinct flower: Leucadendron grandiflorum, last recorded in the Western Cape of South Africa circa 1960. Extinct by wildfires. 

The flower behind Reclaimed Flame has an interesting history. "This flower is recorded on occasion as having disappeared due to wildfires, but then there are other records from the Indigenous people of the land indicating that, actually, wildfires were really critical to the flower's ability to propagate," says Aganovic. "It points out that we can use science to kind of bring things back, but we can't use science to replace the gaps in the human relationship with the land." Reclaimed Flame pays homage to this history with warm, fiery scent notes like turmeric, chamomile, and grapefruit. 

The extinct flower: Shorea cuspidata, last recorded in Borneo circa 1998. Extinct by logging. 

If there were a fragrance that captured diving into cool water, this is it. Wet stones is one of the scent notes, along with bergamot, water lily, salted musk, and driftwood, perfectly re-creating a serene garden pond.