Hi all, I'm enjoying the discussion of fragrances, and especially Mark McDonough's dissertation. I must admit that it is however all a bit "academic' to me; I've been anosmic for the past 10 to 15 years. (This is probably due to a combination of over 65 years of allergies plus ca. 40 years as a bench chemist.) I try to view things like flower odors from a perspective of evolutionary biology. Jane may have found a few stenches indescribable, but I'd guess they all have their counterparts in the animal kingdom. Foul smelling flowers are usually pollinated by carrion or dung eating insects. The sweet fragrances have apparently developed to attract other types of pollinators. White, night blooming flowers have such fragrances, to draw their pollinators, usually moths, till they are close enough to see the pale flowers by the light of moon or stars. Someone has already reminded us that bird-pollinated flowers are usually red in color but lack odors. Most birds do not use their sense of smell to find food. If a flower odor is hard to describe, you probably have just not encountered its model in the animal kingdom yet. Best wishes, Jim Shields in central Indiana. where the sun was shinning today and the snow has almost disappeared ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP