Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 09:40:35 EDT
From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU
Subject: Re: Flower scent and dialect
For example: I've always been interested in the host of plants whose flowers
give off a semen-like odor (gingko, barberry, etc.), and met someone here in
Arizona who calls an unidentified tree the "sex tree" because of this odor. I
think Linnaeus classified these smells as "Hircinae," i.e. goat-like in odor.
The ADS list members have such a treasure of linguistic idiosyncracy; any
botanical smell lore out there?
Osmically Yours,
Kevin Dann
Scottsdale, AZ (where pineapple-smelling acacias now fill the air)
--Gingko smells like dog mess in the hot sun, pure and simple.
Wayne Glowka
Professor of English
Georgia College
Milledgeville, GA 31061
912-453-4222
wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu