By what name is the white Florentine Iris known when used in perfumery?
Iris (plant) harvested, dried, and aged for up to 5 years. In this time, the fats and oils inside the roots undergo degradation and oxidation, which produces many fragrant compounds that are valuable in perfumery. The scent is said to be similar to violets. The aged rhizomes are steam-distilled which produces a thick oily compound, known in the perfume industry as "iris butter" or orris oil. Iris rhizomes also contain notable amounts of terpenes, and organic acids such as ascorbic acid, myristic acid, tridecylenic acid and undecylenic acid. Iris rhizomes can be toxic. Larger blue flag ("I. versicolor") and other species often
Iris mesopotamica and vomiting. Also handling the plant may cause a skin irritation or an allergic reaction. Iris mesopotamica has been used in the past in folk medicine, for various uses including; treating animals bites and poisons, treating Haemorrhoids and sexual diseases, treating Internal diseases, treating inflammations and skin diseases. The rhizomes also contain a plenty of starch, including isoflavone and essential oils which are used in perfumery, similar to "Iris florentina". In the past, up to hundreds of years ago, in the Levant, Arabs, and Muslims, planted "Iris albicans", (another white flowering bearded iris) and "Iris mesopotamica" in cemeteries, and graveyards,