Plants are of many types; among them, many produce a distinct smell. Plants emit smells for many reasons, whether for self-defense to ward off predators or sometimes due to chemicals produced inside them that produce various fragrances.
Chemicals emitted from flowers work as close and far proximity attractions and are crucial for the delocalization of pollen and selection by insects, mainly for pollination.
The species of plants pollinated by bees and such insects have distinct sweet fragrances, whereas those by beetles have strong or fruity smells.
To date, not much is known about insects’ response to the chemical found in smells from plants, but it is proven that they are capable of distinguishing plants based on their smell.
Additionally, to attract insects and guide them to the flowers of various plants, fragrances are very important in distinguishing between plant species and among plants of the same species.
In essence, plants of the same species that rely on various insects for pollination produce different smells to stimulate the olfactory senses or preferences of the pollinating insects.
By providing specific signals via smells, flower fragrances enable an insect to distinguish between various plants, increasing its chances of getting pollinated. Thus successful pollination is also ensured, making it beneficial for plants.
Plants normally have their scent output on maximum when the flowers are ready for pollination and when its potential pollinators are also available to ensure pollination.
Bees or butterflies mostly pollinate plants that maximize their output during the day; on the other hand, those pollinated by moths and bats release their fragrance mostly at night to attract the correct pollinators, respectively.
Plants even release different scents depending on their age.
For example, new flowers release a different smell than what they exude when they grow older. Normally, older flowers’ smell is stronger to signal to more pollinators in comparison to older ones.
Why do plants have a buttered popcorn smell? It is mostly because certain chemicals are produced in them, similar to Butyric Acid, which exudes a distinct buttered popcorn-like smell when inhaled by humans.
There are different plants in the wild with such a similar smell, even though they might smell different from each other by a little, but under consensus, it is agreed that they smell like buttered popcorn.
Plants that smell like Buttered Popcorn are as follows:
1. Dombeya Wallich
also known as a pink ballor pink ball tree, is native to India, Eastern Africa, and Madagascar. The plant itself can grow up to heights of 20 to 30 feet, and span 25 feet in width, and has an extremely attractive looking flower, giving it the name pink ball.
It has heart-shaped leaves, which are dark green and have serrated edges. Its main propagation mode is through the pollen from its flowers and the pollen in that flower that helps it propagate.
This plant has continued to flourish throughout India and Africa through this method of propagation. It can be used to extract a sweet smell similar to butter popcorns and used for indoor fragrance purposes.
The flower, which is pink in color, and has a distinct scent that resembles buttered popcorn, looks very attractive.
It is used in many gardens and orchids to not only increase the beauty of the place but also add some nice fragrance to the air.
2. Popcorn Senna
(Senna didymobotrya), also known as Candelabra tree and peanut butter cassia is another plant that exudes a buttered popcorn-like smell.
It is native to Africa and can be found in various environments and soils throughout the continent. It is a part of the legume family and is used for multiple purposes, such as an ornamental plant, a cover crop, and even green leguminous manure.
It is even naturalized in the wild throughout various countries in Asia and the USA as well. The plant itself has a hairy appearance and can grow up to heights of five to ten meters.
It has elongated leaves with smaller leaflets growing from them. It has a distinct smell that is often similar to butter popcorn, and at times like peanut butter which gives it its name.
The plant is poisonous and is at times used in gardens but rarely used for anything else. It is mostly found in the wild throughout Africa and is not used for any commercial purposes either.
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3. Glory bower
(Clerodendrum), also called bleeding heart, was a plant originally belonging to the flowering plant species but now is considered in the Mint family of plants.
These are mostly small trees and can grow up to heights of a few meters at maximum. The plant itself has a red appearance and even bears berries that are used for its propagation.
It also bears white flowers with a distinct buttered popcorn-like smell, which is sweet and is used to attract pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies.
The flower is also protandrous and can change its structure in its lifetime to ensure it is successfully pollinated.
Mostly found across various parts of Asia, this plant is used not only as an ornamental plant in ceremonies but also as a plant for home decorations and indoor fragrances at times as well due to its fragrance.
The plant is also fit for gardens and can be found in various orchids due to its showy appearance, and is often found in the wild as well.
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Conclusion
The plants mentioned above are the most common plants when it comes to having popcorn-like smells.
It is due to their chemical composition that the fragrance they emit is so similar to popcorn, but overall all of these plants are not only fit for the garden, but most of them bear flowers that are extremely good looking and can be even used in orchids and as ornamental plants.
Out of these three, the Popcorn Senna is the one whose smell resembles extremely close to that of popcorns and is even used commercially for various purposes, including fragrance extraction.
These plants are pollinated mostly by wild pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and other insects and don’t require any other natural method of pollination.
Various countries are trying to naturalize these plants in their wild to help grow them for various uses outside of their native countries.
The butter popcorn-like smell even plays to their advantage since it helps them not to be cut down or removed by humans because of their nice fragrance and, in turn, helps it in increasing its population in comparison to other naturally available plants, which are considered highly invasive and even removed due to their unpleasant scent or unappealing appearance.
Even during natural selection, these plants are preferred by pollinators over others due to their strong, distinct smell, which helps to attract more pollinators, thus ensuring the continuation of its progeny.
Such plants emit such popcorn butter-like smell, mostly due to the presence of butyric acid present in its flowers and leaves, produced as a byproduct from its internal processes, and are given off as a distinct smell to others that inhale it.
The above three plants are just a few of the plants that share a popcorn-like smell, and many more can be found in nature that shares such a common yet not so common scent.
These plants are easily accessible to all and are often used by people for ornamental purposes, but some are even poisonous and need to be handled with care.