Mother nature had covered earth with colorful flowers. They are a treat to watch, but have you ever given a thought why do flowers smell. Natalia Dudareva an associate professor in the department of horticulture and landscape architecture at Perdue University explained that the scents produced by each and every flower are different. The scent is a complex mixture of low molecular weight compounds.

Unique smells?

Flowers maybe of the same shape and color but no two floral smells are identical. This is because of the fact that there are innumerable volatile compounds produced by the flowers which interact differently with the living beings.

Purpose of producing smell?

Flowers main purpose is to attract pollinators and distract predators. Pollination is required to let new plants grow. The flowers like roses, poppies have sweet scent and they attract pollinators like bees, flies and some flowers have rotting, musty, fruity odor that attract beetles.  The flowers smell most when they are ready for pollination or when a pollinator is around. Flowers that have maximum scent during the day are pollinated by bees and butterflies and flowers that have maximum scent at night are pollinated by moths and bats.

How insects responds to scents?                          

Till date there is no valid explanation as to how insect responds to the scent of the flower. The insects are capable of even distinguishing between the smells. The smell guides them to the flower and in reward they get the food that is the nectar. The flowers give different fragrance signals to attract the insects to learn a particular food source.

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