‘Nature’s fragrances shape the meaning of ‘home’ in our minds’

Elise Vernon Pearlstine is a zoologist and author of ‘Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance’. She tells Times Evoke about why nature’s range of perfumes holds great significance:

For many of us, certain fragrances evoke a strong memory. We associate a particular flower, for instance, with a joyful time or a visit to a special place in nature, such as a forest, with calm and peace. Our sense of smell has a direct connection with our mind and emotions and certain smells bring back intense personal remembrances. Nature’s fragrances also influence our current emotions — lavender helps us relax. While the plant creates its distinctive fragrance to attract pollinators, inhaling this enhances our ability to deal with stress.




Some fragrances enliven us — peppermint sharpens our memory and helps us stay alert. That comes from the qualities of its leaf which is a bit rough and furry, the protective fur holding chemicals that energise us. Some fragrances help us understand our location. Speaking for myself, I associate the smell of rain with where I grew up in the western United States. That smell — a shower in the desert, releasing all those chemicals stored in the sands and touching on the bacteria and fungus therein — reminds me deeply of home. The ‘mitti attar’ made in Kannauj, India, capturing that fragrance of rain soaking dry earth, is similar. Over the years, certain flowers in tropical Florida — jasmine, frangipani, ylang-ylang — really anchor me. We could live by a beach or a park of urban trees but depending on what people are familiar with, their idea of ‘home’ has a fragrance. India has such wondrous and distinctive smells.

THAT WALK IN THE WOODS: California’s redwoods have their distinctive smell. Photo Courtesy: E. Pearlstine




Consider the Western Ghats which house pepper, cardamom and ginger. Pepper, a vine, grows under the very rich tree canopy that flourishes in those tropical wet forests. Peppers start out green in colour and as they are dried, they turn darker — while they are cured, a shell develops around them which holds that pungent combination of chemicals which gives them a sharp smell. Cardamom and ginger, each with their unmistakable fragrances, also grow on the ground under these trees. Ginger, a root, has a beautiful fresh smell and many medicinal properties, including treating sea sickness — that’s why, from very early on, sailors journeying the world would carry ginger with them. This boosted the cultivation of ginger and explains its prevalence in dishes cooked worldwide.

IT'S TIME TO RELAX: Lavender’s sweet, gentle fragrance calms restless minds. Photo Courtesy: E. Pearlstine

Throughout history, nature’s fragrances, our emotions and making medicines for our physical form were very closely tied together in the human mind. If people felt a smell was pleasant, it was always adopted for good purposes. People grew fragrant plants in their yards and used them as remedies, messages of love and a welcome to guests. The Chinese and Japanese would use fragrant incense to tell important stories.



With rampant deforestation and habitat loss now, we are losing many of these naturally growing fragrant plants. This has multiple consequences, including a breakage of the connection we humans have evolved with the entire world around us. Plants perfume our very consciousness and inner minds and have, over aeons, imbued our cultural and personal histories. Their fragrance — think of roses blossoming in the hills or champa flowers glowing white against the darkness of a hot summer’s night — make the place where we live ‘our’ area. They bring back where we came from, helping us revisit some of our most beautiful past moments. Losing fragrant plants means losing all these links.

YOURS FOREVER: The magnolia has a unique perfume, symbolising enigma Photo Courtesy: E. Pearlstine

Importantly, we are also squandering special plant ingredients. In some cases, these can be created in a lab but that is with a single molecule. We are threatening unique medicinal plants — we aren’t even aware of thousands of species which could hold wonderful qualities but are simply being wantonly destroyed with habitat change and the destruction of woods and wetlands. The loss of nature’s fragrances threatens our history, our current senses and our future — we need to be aware of this.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.