Monkeyflower

TUSSILAGO SUNSCREEN

FIG

BUTTERCUP

CHAMOMILE

GOLDBERRY

MUSK HAY

MONKEYFLOWER

The Musk Monkeyflower (so renowned for its vibrant scent that it

was simply referred to as The Common Musk) was imported to Europe

from the American west coast, where the sun-yellow flowers,

perched on fuzzy, sticky stalks, can be found in meadows or along

old dirt roads.

The Monkeyflower was a smash hit in Victorian England, thanks

to its rich musk smell. Over nearly a century, it spread from the

botanical aristocracy to London street hawkers and countryside

cottage windows. But at the turn of the twentieth century, the

flower suddenly lost its scent—not just in domesticated plants,

but in wild specimens as well. Botanists in North America reported

that the uncultivated flowers had also lost their fragrance.

This puzzling mystery was the hottest topic among biology

conspiracy theorists for decades, but no explanation was ever

found. Eventually, the subject faded into obscurity, along with

the flower’s popularity as a houseplant. By then, the flowers had

spread into the wild and can sometimes still be found living a quiet

life in parts of Europe and New Zealand — perhaps just biding their

time before returning to the olfactory stage.

MONKEYFLOWER Eau de Parfum will be released October 23 2025.

30 ml, unisex. RRP. €150

WWW.STORASKUGGAN.COM

“It appears that the loss of the scent of Monkeyflower was first noticed

in Britain in 1909, when a well-known nurseryman asked: 'Is there such a

thing now as a common Musk with the old Musk perfume?”

— THE LOST FRAGRANCE OF MUSK, letter published in the journal Nature, 1934