Why Is Osmanthus So Sweet? 

Source of pictures: Internet

Daniel and mom were walking in the park in the evening. The willow twigs, which had lost most leaves, were swaying in the cool autumn wind which also brought a smell of flowers. Daniel looked like a greedy cat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and said, "It is sweet!" Mom also took a careful breath and said, "It’s osmanthus." Daniel looked up and asked curiously, "How did you know? You didn’t even see it."

Mom took his hand and walked toward the osmanthus grove, and said, "Flower fragrance is very recognizable, just like people's voice. When you were naughty at home, did you know it was me when you heard me say hello to the aunt next door? Each flower has its special fragrance, just as people have different voices."

Daniel was trying to argue that he was such a good boy at home, but suddenly he was surrounded by the powerful fragrance of flowers. It was tastier than a cake just out of the oven. Just smelling made him feel full. Daniel came closer and saw that the big mushroom-like canopy was densely dotted with small flowers. They were blooming in clusters around the branches. If you didn’t look carefully, you couldn’t see those flowers about the size of rice grains, but their fragrance went far away with the wind.

Daniel bent his head like a puppy and sniffed around the canopy, saying excitedly, "It's so delicious, even more delicious than the osmanthus cake we had."

Mom smiled and said, "Of course there is no fresh osmanthus fragrance in the cake. Smell them while they are still in bloom. Flowers lose their fragrance when they fade."

Having a sweet feast, Daniel stared at the little flowers and asked, "Mom, there is nothing special on the osmanthus flower. The petals are even smaller than those of most other flowers. Where does the fragrance come from? How come it is so sweet?"

"Do you know why we can smell it?"

Daniel answered, "I do. Odors are actually molecules that run around. When they get into our nostrils, they are perceived by olfactory receptors there. The olfactory nerve receives the stimulus and sends it to the brain, which tells us what we’re smelling.” Daniel did learn something at his semester-long science course. This question was a piece of cake to him.

"So, odor molecules trigger the sense of smell. Different odor molecules trigger different olfactory sensations. Although osmanthus flowers have small petals, they produce a lot of aromatic oils, such as ionone and ocimene, which are volatile. That is why osmanthus fragrance can float to our noses. There are different colors of osmanthus flowers, but not all of them are good at secreting these oils. Usually, gold petals are the most fragrant, while white flowers are less fragrant, but still more fragrant than other flowers."

After Daniel had listened, he ran to the osmanthus trees of different colors. As expected, gold osmanthus was the most fragrant, while the white ones had a slighter fragrance. Daniel suggested, "Mom, osmanthus flowers are so sweet. Can we take them home? Will they still be sweet then?"

"Why don’t we just leave them on the tree, so they can be fragrant for longer and more people can enjoy the sweetness? We can wait until they fall down naturally. Their scent can last a long time. You can pick up them and smell. Are they sweet?" Mom pointed to the osmanthus flowers on the ground under the tree.

Daniel picked up the flowers about the size of rice grains. He found that even they were dried, they still smelled great. He decided that he could wait for a few weeks until they fell naturally. He could bring them home and maybe make some osmanthus cakes.

Author: Huang Jing