A chemical compound or principle found in flowers, or a substance derived from floral extracts used in pharmacy or cosmetics.
From Latin 'flos' (flower) + the chemical suffix '-ine' (as in quinine, morphine). This neologism appears in late 19th and early 20th-century botanical and pharmaceutical texts to describe active compounds in flowers.
Florizine represents how scientists tried to isolate the 'essence' of flowers into pure chemicals—early perfumers and pharmacists were basically doing chemistry without fully understanding what made roses smell like roses.
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