Imagine yourself walking on an open field with flowers everywhere. Once you take a deep breath, you’ll be overwhelmed with the sweet fragrance that will meet your nose. Pause for a moment and try to think, why do flowers smell good? Find out the reasons why in this article.
Why do Flowers smell good?
Some people might have asked themselves, ‘why do flowers smell good?’ maybe once or twice in their life. Let’s face it, this question really catches our attention and makes us want to ponder over it. Lucky for you, your hours of wanting to find an answer will be done once you finish this article. Let’s get on to it, shall we?
Before everything else, you need to know how pollination works. Pollination is a process in which flowers reproduce by making new seeds. It happens when pollen from a male flower’s anther is transferred to a female flower’s stigma. The pollen can be carried by different pollinating agents such as water, wind, or animals and insects.
As said above, pollination can happen with the help of animals and insects. This is where the flower’s scent comes in and plays its role.
Generally, flowers smell good because they want to attract pollinating agents, specifical animals such as bats, birds, and different types of insects. It’s been noted that each flower smells distinctly different from the one before, so the agents won’t notice.
It is also noted that flowers emit a captivating fragrance depending on the time of day in which their pollinating agents are active. For example, if their targets are butterflies and bees, flowers will be more fragrant during the day. On the other hand, flowers that target moths are more fragrant at night.
So, in general, flowers don’t smell good for the people but for their own reproduction. Flowers may emit a sweet fragrance to allure insects or use a specific scent for a targeted type of insect that they have. It is said that flowers sometimes smell like the female counterpart of certain insects to help make fertilization easier.
Do all flowers smell good?
For this next part, we will determine if all flowers smell equally good. While most of the flowers you know of may give off a sweet fragrance, not all flower types have a good smell. Sometimes, a flower may emit a foul odor, but do note that this is for flowers with a specific kind of insect in mind.
We know that there are a number of insects who are solely addicted to foul smells such as rotting food or feces materials.
With this in mind, some flowers tend to copy the same foul smell to attract more insects into their body and pollinate them. This process helps make reproduction easier for foul smelling flowers since they have more hosts to accommodate.
One most remarkable example of this type of flower is the Corpse Flower. From the name itself, you’ll surely know that it doesn’t smell good at all. However, understand that this type of flower aims to lure in specific types of insects only, such as flesh flies and beetles who love the stench of this flower.
A foul smell will help make fertilization and reproduction easier for corpse flowers. This is because they don’t have many other flower types of sharing the flesh flies with, unlike bees and butterflies with different flower types. If you want to know more about corpse flowers, you may check out this video below.
Most Fragrant Flowers
Since we’ve learned that not all flowers smell great, we made a list to show some of the most common fragrant flowers that people know of. While there may be thousands of sweet-smelling flowers worldwide, we can only list five and their characteristics. Without further ado, here are five common fragrant flowers you should know.
Rose
The first flower to start off our list is the Rose. It’s no surprise that this beautiful flower has a sweet smell, making it the best gift for your loved ones on any occasion.
In our modern times, you’ll be able to see something that is rose-scented everywhere you look, from lotions to perfumes and bath soaps. You can never go wrong with a rose, no matter what.
Jasmine
Known for its sweet fragrance and small pinkish-white flowers, Jasmine is another flower whose fragrance has taken over the world like a storm.
Its one-of-a-kind smell has been used in many different things, from home fragrances such as diffuser oils to bath and body products. Jasmine scented products are a must for a sweet-smelling, fragrant home.
Lilac
Often associated with a vintage vibe, lilac is one of the most common fragrant flowers you can find in different things. While on display, this flower is pleasing to the eye, and once you get a whiff of its soft, sweet smell, you are bound to be captivated and mesmerized.
Violet
For every complex, fragrant scent you smell, violet is undoubtedly one of its main components. This flower’s rich smell will make you feel warm and content, like a cool summer breeze. It’s also effortless to collect, which makes it 10 times better to use for perfumes and such.
Lavender
Most commonly found to fill up a room with its captivating scent, lavender is one of the most used scents when it comes to home products. This flower also has a calming property that can help soothe you and keep you content. Its distinctive smell can last many nights in a specific room, making it a better scent for large rooms.
History of Flower Scents
Up to this date, there are no specifics on the origin of using flower scents. The earliest record to date goes to the Egyptians in the fourth millennium B.C. when they used flowers to produce oils for religious purposes like offerings.
Then came the fall of the Roman Empire, which also halted all their discovery with the sweet flower fragrances. All went back to using it for religious purposes only.
Slowly, the emergence of floral scented perfume became a hit after Ibn Sina, a Persian physician, learned how to distill roses and create aromatic oils. This was dated back more than a thousand years ago.
To this day, floral scents that smell good are still widely used for many products you can use for yourself or your home. If you want to check out a detailed history of sweet-smelling floral scents and perfume, click on the video below.
Uses of Floral Scents
After all that basic information about floral scents and their history, it’s time to know about the different uses of flowery scents. While there are tons of other uses for floral aromas, we listed down some of the most common floral-scented products that you may notice nowadays.
- Shampoos and Body Soaps: The first items on our list are shampoos, body soaps, or body wash. Especially for women, you may notice that most shampoos and conditioners in the market today have floral scents since they smell sweet. The same goes for soaps and body wash solutions. We use this daily, and we may not notice it, but we get too hooked with a particular smell and use it regularly, not knowing that it is a floral scent.
- Perfume: Next up, we have the undoubtedly most common use of floral scents, which is Perfume. More than half of all perfumes on Earth are floral scented because of their sweet smell. When you buy a perfume, you may be unaware that it’s a floral scent since you will just base it on the fragrance. Floral aromas are more commonly found in perfumes than any other thing.
- Scented oils and candles: If you’re a big fan of calming scented oils, candles, or even incense, you might want to check out some floral-scented ones. The sweet fragrance will undoubtedly put you in a good mood and keep you relaxed. The most common flowers are Gardenia, Lavender, Jasmine, and Hyacinth.
- Diffusers: Nowadays, diffusers have become increasingly popular. Most of the scented oils used for this thing are floral scented because of their calming effect on our senses. There are many ways to achieve an aromatic floral diffuser, such as using scented sticks, reeds, or papers or putting flowers on top of the diffuser to enhance the smell.
- Lotions: Last on our list are lotions. The sweet scents of flowers help make people feel good, and floral scented lotions can help your skin feel protected while smelling fragrant. If you don’t have one, check out some soon.
Summary
Now that you’ve reached this point in the article, you should already be aware of the reasons why flowers smell good. You should also know the most common fragrant flower scents and some of their uses. We hope you learned a lot about flower scents from this article.