How Do Flowers Develop Their Scent?

A flower has a fragrance when certain essential oils are found in the petals. These oils are produced by the plant as part of its growing process.

They are very complex and under certain conditions this substance is broken down or decomposed and is formed into a volatile oil.

The oil later evaporates and when this happens we can smell the fragrance it gives off.

The type of scent a flower gives off depends on the different chemicals in the volatile oil.

Various combinations produce different fragrances. These same oils can also be found on leaves, the bark of trees, roots, fruit and seeds.

For example, oranges and lemons have them in their fruit, almonds in their seeds and cinnamon in its bark.

The Arabians were the first to distil rose petals with water to produce rose water. This was 1,200 years ago, and we still extract perfume from flowers today.

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