Ambrette seed is the dried seed of Abelmoschus moschatus, a flowering hibiscus relative native to South Asia. The seed oil contains ambrettolide, a naturally occurring macrocyclic musk molecule that gives the material its skin-warm, slightly fruity musky profile. Ambrette seed is one of the few natural sources of a musk note that smells genuinely animalic without the heaviness of synthetic white musks. The harvest is small and labour-intensive, which keeps prices at the upper end of perfumery raw materials. Matiere Premiere Parisian Musc centres ambrette seed in its composition.
