Ever wanted a rose that smelled like bananas? Maybe a petunia that reeked of root beer? Researchers at the University of Florida Gainesville have isolated 13 genes in flowers that key for the blossom’s fragrance.
— Read more at Genetically Modified Flowers That Can Smell Like Anything at Singularity Hub.
I was attending a flower/plant exhibition lately and was surprised to be put face to face with about twenty varieties of iris, one smelled of bananas, one of chocolate, another of rose….
That was odd.
Fun!
You know, I would be happier with florist roses that really smell like roses, and carnations that really smell like carnations.
Exactly!!
I’m with you on this one. Sometimes you want something to smell exactly as it really is. Much more helpful in learning/identifying scents!
Imagine if your first exposure to a rose was to have it smell like a banana and then you came across a banana. You might believe that someone messed with your banana to make it smell like a rose. OR you might do something silly like come across a recipe requiring “rose water”, buy it, use it. Then when it doesn’t smell like banana, you might be very disappointed.
Mals86 is funny. The worst is when people buy roses at gas stations and they smell like gasoline. I would settle for them smelling like root beer in that situation.
I have old fashioned bearded iris on my yard, dug up and split now for at least 30 years (grandma’s farm, mom’s backyard, now mine) and they smell exactly like grape candy. Like a grape sucker or a grape gumball. Even my husband who isn’t impressed with flowers likes these. I have no idea what their name is or was (lost to the ages), but it’s obviously natural and not created.
I have a shrub in my front yard–Tecoma stans, also known as Yellow Bells or esperanza–that has flowers that smell like Easter candy to me. I would describe it as a cross between marshmallows and jelly beans.
Not everything smells the way we think it “should”, even when natural and not engineered. There are some varieties of roses, for example, that are said to smell like violets (Lady Banks comes to mind), while others are described as licorice, clove, raspberry, citrus, myrrh, etc. Damask roses probably come closest to the stereotypical “rose” scent, and are in fact the type most used in perfumery. If you were used to roses with a myrrh or clove scent and then bought some damask roses, you might be surprised.