Fragrant trees. The most fragrant shrubs and trees The names of all flowering trees with a strong scent

Our gardens are home to a huge number of different plants, and many of them smell during flowering. There is even such a thing as a scent garden, in which plants with the most pleasant scent are collected. In the Middle Ages, special gardens were created, the paths of which were planted with fragrant plants so that when you step on them, the smell changes: mint for thyme, thyme for chamomile, that for something else, and this, not counting the smells of flowers around the path. In one of the parks in France, there is a mixborder created from plants that smell during flowering, and even selected by color - yellow, white, blue and pink areas in total stretch for more than a kilometer.

The strength of smells in different plants is different, in order to smell the lilies of the valley, even when they grow in a large group, you need to "stick your nose in them", but two or three bushes of violets remind of themselves from two or three meters. Of all that I personally know, suitable for the middle lane, the most fragrant plant is the Korean Abelia. Her nondescript flowers smell like fragrant tobacco. In hot weather, the breeze sometimes carries this smell almost 300 meters away.

Some plants have completely unexpected smells: in addition to the carnations themselves, golden currants smell like a carnation, and strongly, the smell is felt a few meters from the bush. The same smell, but not so strong, have the flowers of the hybrid underbelly, appearing immediately after the snow melts. Lily of the valley, except, of course, of the lily of the valley itself, smells like flowers of actinidia kolomikta, especially male ones. Tea roses, as the name suggests, smell like tea, but Rhodiola has a pink rose, or rather a rosehip, smells like a cut rhizome. So this plant was named not for its color, its flowers are yellowish, but for its smell.

Lemons smell like lemon balm leaves, catnip, one of the types of wormwood, one of the varieties of thyme (creeping thyme), Moldavian snakehead and lemon sorghum. Catnip, which is also called lemon, very often does not live up to its name. When propagated by seeds, it produces a wide variety of chemical forms that smell differently. And the lemon scent is the rarest of them all. More often among catnip seedlings there are plants that smell of kerosene, or even mushroom soup! The smells of creeping thyme or thyme are also varied. Back in my student years, during my practice in Pyatigorsk on the slope of Mashuk Mountain, I counted 7 variants of the smell per 1 square meter. Thyme can have a sweet smell, familiar to everyone from childhood on the cough medicine "Pertussin", it can smell like pure thymol - the smell of a dental office, where thymol is used to disinfect the tooth cavity before filling, and maybe even the smell of allspice - such a thyme I met in Alma-Ata nature reserve. Most often, there are various combinations of thymol odors, often almost kerosene.

The smell of Siberian catnip leaves is very interesting. It resembles the smell of buckwheat honey.

Two very similar plants of the Asteraceae family - balsamic tansy (the famous Gogol cannoper) and balsamic yarrow - differ not only in inflorescences, but also in smell. The subtle aroma of canuper is completely different from the pungent smell of medical camphor that balsamic yarrow possesses.

Methyl salicylate gives plants the medicinal smell of the well-known rubbing for joint pains. It is found in many plants familiar to us, in particular, in the meadowsweet, which grows in damp places. All parts of the plant smell like methyl salicylate, it even makes its way into the honey aroma of inflorescences. But the strongest aroma of this compound has a birch, a beautiful tree from North America. The local population uses its bark instead of aspirin.

Sometimes the same plant has a complex smell, in which the most unexpected "notes" are felt. The same meadowsweet, when rubbed, at first clearly smells of fresh cucumber, and then the smell of methyl salicylate "breaks through".

There are also plants, different parts of which smell differently. Thus, three essential oils are obtained from a citrus bergamot tree. Bergamot oil, familiar to everyone by the smell of Earl Gray tea, is obtained from the fruit. Petite grain with a strong fresh scent is from the leaves, and the sweetest aroma of neroli is from the flowers.

Funny, but cucumber smell is peculiar to more than one cucumber. The well-known cucumber grass or borago, its closest relative, comfrey, the already mentioned meadowsweet and a beautiful plant of the Rosaceae family, the blackhead or small burnet, smell the same way. It smells like cucumber and greens of common burnet. But the flowers of the burnet are pollinated by flies. Here everything is adapted to attract them - and appearanceand the color resembling clotted blood and the smell of stale meat.

Not all plants have a pleasant smell from our, human, point of view, especially those that are pollinated by flies. Blooming pears and mountain ash, as well as an interesting plant - Manchurian Kirkazon, smell of rotten meat. It has a unique mechanism for pollination of saxophone-shaped flowers. At the constriction in the pharynx of the flower, sharp hairs directed downward are located. The stamens are located at the top of the pedicel. An insect caught in a flower cannot get out of it until the anthers mature. The pollen poured out of them accumulates at the “bottom” of the flower, completely enveloping the fly. After that, the hairs die off and the fly “breaded” like a cutlet goes to the next flower. To attract flies, the flowers of the Manchurian Kirkazon are painted in "meat" color, but in the Large-leaved Kirkazon they are yellow and smell like freshly caught fish or river water.

The flowers of most types of hawthorns smell like fish, but already rotten, so they should not be planted under windows. Only double pink hawthorns are odorless, all the others differ only in the intensity of the "aroma". Barberry flowers have an unpleasant smell. It resembles the smell of a musty doormat, or rotten potatoes. Small barberries smell faintly, but a large common barberry bush frankly stinks. The nectar of the barberry lies almost openly, the flies have expanse, therefore the smell is designed to attract them as the main pollinators.

But the most unpleasant smell has a beautiful ornamental plant black cohosh. During the flowering of black cohosh, which has now become fashionable among flower growers, you cannot stand near the bush for a long time - it smells of fresh feces. This smell is especially strong in the room, so black cohosh should never be used in bouquets! The blooming common quince has exactly the same smell, but it is felt only if you smell the flower.

Two more plants, belonging to completely different families, smell very unpleasant: hemlock and black root. Both of them "smell" of mice. Blackroot on this basis is even planted to protect against mice, apparently the mice decide that the place is already taken and do not take it. But the blackroot has one drawback. Once the plant is dry, it completely loses its smell. And in the hemlock, this smell makes it possible to distinguish it from the numerous edible umbellates, which is very important, since the hemlock is deadly poisonous.

There are also many plants that smell of garlic, and these are not only various onions, as you might think. The smell of garlic is common in the cruciferous family. From the closest acquaintances, the field jar and the garlic smell of garlic, the last plant even got its name from the smell. The British call it garlic mustard because of the slightly spicy and garlic taste at the same time and is used in early spring salads. The smell of the thick-housed Byzantine purse growing in our flower beds is very interesting, but it appears only in extreme heat. On cool days, this plant smells "medium labiate", but if you grind the leaf in the heat, it smells strongly of melon.

As you can see, the world of plant scents is very diverse and interesting. When planting your plants, be sure to think not only about how they will look, but also about what it all smells like.

Photo: Natalia Zamyatina, Natalia Mologina

It's hard to imagine, but at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, this native of China, Japan and Australia was considered an enviable acquisition for any European botanical garden.

In 1809, Ailanth first appeared in Russian Empire... Since then, the tree began to conquer the southern lands so quickly that gardeners grabbed their heads: the plant multiplied with lightning speed by root suckers and seeds, occupying vast territories.

In its homeland, the tree is affectionately called paradise, the tree of God. In our country, on the contrary, it bears a contemptuous dissonant nickname - stink. I must say that pounded leaves really emit a very unpleasant smell.

People have been fighting ailant for almost two centuries, however, without much success. But once the trees were brought to Russia with good intentions - the fact is that in India, Japan and China silkworms feed on the leaves of this tree. When a generation of seedlings grew up in the Crimea and the Caucasus, experiments were carried out to obtain a domestic silk thread. They say that the quality of raw materials was not inferior to overseas samples. But then the business died out, and the production of silk was never established.

And the tree continued its triumphal march through the southern lands. Although the age of ayllant is short-lived (only forty to sixty years), he can rightfully be considered a champion in terms of growth. A seed tree can stretch three meters in a year, and the growth from a stump reaches a length of one and a half meters in the same period! Tiny plants, striving for the sun, easily break through even a thick layer of asphalt. And in terms of the abundance of root suckers, he cannot find equal at all.

In the sixties of the last century, a heated discussion flared up on the pages of the journal "Nature", where opponents of the plant accused the ailanth of being able to cause dermatitis and asthma attacks in humans. True, there was no compelling evidence of this. In defense of the ailant, we can say that it is difficult to imagine a more unpretentious and fast-growing tree. And outwardly, the stinker is very attractive.

So this alien lives side by side with a person. As one well-known proverb says - it is impossible together, and apart in any way.

All trees that have a smell are already peculiar, as millions of their fellows do not smell. Trees such as cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), pepper (Pimenta dioica), cloves (Eugenia caryophyllata), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) pleasantly stimulate our taste and smell. We enjoy the scent of crushed laurel leaves (Pimenta acris), camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora), eucalyptus and many other trees that play such a big role in medicine and cosmetics. However, this is all too ordinary for this book, we will only deal with truly scented trees here. Our noses will quickly divide them into two groups - aromatic and fetid.
The most characteristic woody smells come from the resin that the bark exudes, sometimes naturally, but more often as a result of damage to the tree. What could be more captivating and invigorating than the scent of a fir forest on a hot summer day? Many conifers have the same wonderful scent, but the vast majority of temperate trees do not affect our sense of smell at all.

The most celebrated resins in history are unquestionably frankincense and myrrh. Botting says that in a few millennia BC, incense brought the people of Arabia the same wealth as oil wells did to their present descendants. Incense and incense were sold in huge quantities to all countries of the ancient world. The Chaldean priests burned them generously on the altars of Baal, the Babylonians used them to cleanse the skin (instead of washing!), And huge storage facilities were built for them in Jerusalem. All over Greece, incense was burned in honor of Zeus, and later entire fleets of cargo ships regularly delivered them to Rome.

The Egyptians consumed much more scented tar than all other peoples, since they burned them during religious ceremonies, used them for medical purposes and for embalming, as well as in a complex ritual that should provide the soul with an afterlife. Botting writes further:
“In their commercial laws of 1200 BC. e. Ramses III ruled that the color of incense could range from smoky amber to jade green, pale as moonlight, but all others are of no value. Only incense trees and myrrh produced this flawless incense, and for many hundreds of years they were brought overland from Dufar and Hadhramaut in South Arabia, where these trees grow. Vigilantly guarded caravans of camels, laden with precious resin, roamed south Arabia westward to Yemen, from where they turned north and slowly moved along the Red Sea to the point where the incense road forks and one path led west to Egypt, and the other to east, to Babylon and Syria. By the time the cargo reached its destination, its value had increased sixfold and it was bringing in 500% of the profit. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Egyptians tried to reduce the cost of incense by abandoning intermediaries. They decided to go to get the resin themselves and, if possible, to bring young trees to grow them in Egypt.
The first known Egyptian expedition to the land of incense, which the Egyptians called the country of Punt, hit the road in about 3000 BC. e. Almost nothing is known about her, except that she brought back 80,000 measures of myrrh and 2,600 pieces of valuable wood. In the following centuries, new expeditions were sent from time to time across the Red Sea to Punt for precious resins. The last and largest of these expeditions was sent there in 1493 BC. e. by order of the great egyptian queen Hatshepsut. The flotilla consisted of five large vessels, each with thirty oarsmen. How long the expedition lasted is unknown. On the walls of the temple at Deir el-Bahari, there are long inscriptions and drawings depicting her return ...
Of all the rare trees found on the island of Socotra ... none evoke such fabulous associations or have played such an important role in the past as incense and myrrh. On some mountain slopes, and especially in the valley leading to the city of Kalancia, these trees grow in abundance. In summer they bloom and their fragrance fills the entire valley.
Frankincense tree (there are three or four species of it on the island) resembles the decomposing corpse of some animal. It has inflexible, low-lying branches. The leaves are spiral, dissected, and there are few of them. The thick bark (from which the locals make buckets) and the whitish skin fit snugly against the dappled trunk of some strange color. Sap-swollen wood fibers look like rotting meat; transparent yellow-white resin with a strong odor oozes from the incisions. The fruit is a berry the size of a small plum; few red flowers resembling geraniums grow on short stalks. These trees are not specially bred and the resin is collected in small quantities - not for export, but only for local needs. "
The odor emitted by flowers is rarely carried far - at least in sufficient quantities to be perceived by the human sense of smell. And he is not always pleasant. On foggy, windless evenings, the scent of plumeria or ylang-ylang (Canangium odoralum) envelops the surroundings for everyone's pleasure, but under the same circumstances, the flowers of Jacaratia digitata, Oroxylon indicum and baobab give off a real stench that offends any sensitive nose. Terminalia melanocarpa flowers have earned the name "stinker" in Queensland, and Indian sterculia flowers (Sterculia foetida) stink like a dead skunk. There are a lot of such unpleasant plants. In the temperate zone, these include the smelly female ginkgo fruit from China and the extremely unpleasant fruit of the female ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima). In the tropics, some trees have wood with a very pleasant and persistent odor, usually from the essential oils found in its tissues. An example is the sandalwood (Santalum album). Due to its exquisite aroma, this tree has been cultivated for many hundreds of years. The wood of some eucalyptus and other myrtle trees has a pleasant smell, and the list is far from limited to this. Conversely, many tropical trees smell very unpleasant. For example, here is a report from a South Rhodesian forester about a tree that, funny as it may seem, belongs to the Rosaceae family:
“Parinaria (Parinarium curatellaefolium) gives off a very noticeable odor on a hot day, but so far I have not found a single mention of this in the biological literature. I noticed this when I was hunting with a friend of mine. The further we went into the Parinarium forest, the more I became convinced that my friend had not bathed for at least several weeks. We walked, and in my imagination these weeks turned into months and even years, until finally I realized (in the evening) that a person could not smell so bad without noticing it, and I found that the stench came from the trees. " ... * Recall, for example, that the latex of anchar (Antiaris toxicaria) growing in Malaya is said to be highly poisonous, while elsewhere it appears to be harmless.
It is quite obvious that this phenomenon can be seasonal, or becomes noticeable only on a very hot day, or is of a purely local character *. Smells are so subtle that one person may not notice the stench at all, from which the other suffocates. There are no two people whose physiological reaction to smell would be the same. This is what possibly explains the apparent contradiction between the opinions of the above-mentioned forester and an experienced botanist:
“My student G. Prance, who worked in the forests of Parinarius for about three years, does not confirm the reports of the Southern Rhodesian forester about the disgusting smell of P. curatellaefolium. I myself have lived in the forests of P. curatellaefolium, and I have never noticed any unusual smell. Prance told me that fresh wood has a slight unpleasant odor. "
A big tree Scorodocarpus borneensis, which grows in Sumatra, Malaya and Borneo, is officially called "bawang hutan", which means "forest onion". According to Corner, this tree stinks of stale garlic in every part of it, and he noticed this heavy smell in the forests of Borneo, where there are a lot of such trees. I. Burkill reports that fresh wood of this tree smells like garlic, and dry wood smells like pepper. Corner writes:
“Pithecellobium jiringa fabrics also smell like garlic. Some of the madder - the small Coprosma and Lasianthus trees - have bark, shoots and leaves that smell disgusting of dung, so you can recognize them right away if you bump into them in the forest. The freshly cut bark of many, if not all, legumes smell like crushed pods. However, apart from Scorodocarpus, I hardly know any trees that a person would be able to smell without cutting or crushing any of its tissues. "
An outstanding example of a foul-smelling tree is the Argentinean ombu. Oddly enough, during the day its smell is not perceived by the human sense of smell, but at night it becomes unbearable. But in the daytime the tree, apparently, also smells, since birds, insects and other creatures avoid it around the clock. It's just that the human sense of smell is not so subtle.
The tree, which the Bible calls mustard (Salvadora prsica), is a shrub or tree up to 9 m high, growing in an area that lies north of Central Africa and covers western Asia. According to the Northern Rhodesian forester, on hot days it emits a pungent odor. The locals often call the stinking trees simply "stinkers." These include a relative of the Brazil nut on the island of Mauritius (Foetidia mauritiana) and one of the members of the laurel family in South Africa (Ocotea bullata). Plants of the same genus are found in abundance in the north of South America. G. Guy writes from Salisbury:
“It smells like fresh wood. Several years ago, South African furniture manufacturers imported imbuia (Phoebe porosa) from South America and sold it for genuine ocotea, with which imbuia does bear some resemblance, although its wood lacks the rich golden tint that makes ocotea one of the most beautiful ornamental trees in the world. South African foresters indicated that they can be distinguished by wetting a piece of wood and rubbing it: a genuine ocotea is easily recognizable by its 'stench' even many years after it has been felled. "
In southern Florida, the white corkscrew (Eugenia axillaris) is often called the "stinky tree" because it is very easy to recognize by its unpleasant odor.
In Ceylon, the skeleton (Celtis cinnamotea) is called "stinky", although only its core deserves this name. Both the Sinhalese and Tamil names of this tree in translation mean "the smell of manure." A felled frame for many days can be recognized by the smell from afar,
The "stinkers" also include a tree with very beautiful leaves, similar to those of a magnolia, and magnificent fragrant flowers, reaching a diameter of 13 cm, with creamy white or lilac-bordered petals. This is Gustavia augusta, which grows in Trinidad and Brazil. Unfortunately, its trunk and roots, and possibly the leaves, give off a very unpleasant odor. I have grown several of these trees in my Florida and found that their smell is really very disgusting.
Returning from Brazil, W. Phillipson wrote: “We had to leave the camp because a Varasanta tree (Triplaris amerlcana) * fell across the felling and the ferocious ants attacked us. In addition, we discovered the source of an unpleasant odor that has been poisoning our lives for several days. We searched all around, climbing into every corner in search of a forgotten and rotten piece of meat. Finally we made sure that the smell comes from the stumps. While clearing the area for the camp, we cut down several small trees that are often found in the forests of South America. Their botanical name is Gustavia and they belong to the same family as the Brazil nut. Although their flowers are magnificent and resemble white, slightly pinkish magnolias, the natives and colonists give them the most abusive names in all languages \u200b\u200band dialects. "Flower of death", "cadaverous tree", "stinker" - these are some examples of these names, prompted by the fetid smell of fresh wood. We could not uproot the stumps, and some of them were inside our kitchen and under the shed where we ate, so it was very pleasant to know that we had only one night left to spend there.
In one of my books, I have already talked about three famous tropical trees, whose flowers emit an unpleasant odor before pollination, and after it do not smell at all. These are the Australian fire tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus), the majestic Brazilian Metternichia principle and the Colombian Clavija grandis.
Speaking of unpleasant forest smells, one cannot fail to mention the Malay fruit durian, which the Malays love very much, although many travelers did not like it because of its repulsive smell (see Chapter 6).
Fortunately, the nasty forest smells are very few in number compared to the pleasant ones that last much longer.

Wood species that can be used in the construction of a sauna, comparison of their physical properties in terms of suitability
Breed	Density	Heat capacity	Thermal conductivity	Water absorption			Splitting resistance	Resistance to decay	Core color	Notes
				T	R	T + R
Group A: resinous odor
Norway spruce (Picea abies)	472	812	0,127	0,26	0,13	Moderately large	2	3	Almost white	Traditional sauna wood; contains relatively little resin; the smell is not very strong. Sometimes sold with fir, which has an unpleasant odor. Contains small, dark solid twigs, usually sloppy
Twisted pine (Pinus contorta)	468	805	0,125	0,23	0,15	Moderately large	3	3	Light red brown	It has smooth, straight fibers and can be very curly. Has a distinct resinous odor
Pine Lambert, or sugar (Pinus lambertiana)	417	717	0,113	0,19	0,09	Small	1	3	Light creamy brown	Highly hard wood with a luscious scent of resin
Black Weymouth Pine (Pinus monticoia)	449	772	0,120	0,24	0,14	Moderately large	2	3	Cream to light	It can be very twisted; contains many dense red streaks. The smell of resin is not very strong
Yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa)	458	788	0,123	0,12	0,13	Moderately small	1	3		A very sturdy tree with smooth, straight grains. Has a distinct resinous odor. The most resinous variety that grows in Canada.
Radiant pine (Pinus radiata)	485	834	0,130	0,24	0,16	Big	2	3	Yellow brown	Only young tree wood is suitable for a sauna, since it is quite light; old trees can have a density of up to 600 kg / m. cub. Moderately gummy and curly; not very durable. The smell of resin is not very strong
Pine resinous (Pinus resinosa)	503	865	0,134	0,24	0,16	Moderately large	2	3	Orange to reddish brown	Moderately strong wood, can be highly resin-rich. Has a strong resinous odor
Weymutov's pine (Pinus strobus)	407	700	0,110	0,20	0,08	Small	2	2	Cream to light reddish brown	A very strong wood with a uniform texture and high splitting resistance. Has a subtle resinous odor
Scots pine (Picea abies)	521	896	0,139	0,28	0,13	Big	2	3	Pinkish light brown	Traditional sauna wood; contains many resinous streaks with a very large amount of resin. Has a moderately strong resinous odor
Yew-leaved false beetle (Pseudotsuga taxifolia)	528	908	0,140	0,26	0,14	Big	3	2	Orange to red, sometimes yellow	Wood with even grain, very prone to splitting and splitting. Has a characteristic resinous odor, not as pleasant as pine. Wood is eaten away by iron
Group B: with a pleasant smell
Mexican zest (Cedraia spp.)	488	839	0,130	0,21	0,14	Moderately large	1	1	Reddish light brown	Hardwood. Has a distinct slightly spicy smell. Smooth texture, resistance to splitting. Does not contain resin
Cedrela toona	439	755	0,118	0,20	0,11	Moderately small	1	1	... also	... also
Lawson's cypress (Chamaeparis lawsonia)	482	829	0,128	0,23	0,16	Moderately large	1	1	Light yellow to pale brown	An exceptional scent that lasts for years. Smooth straight grain texture. Does not contain resin
Dacrydium franklinii	537	924	0,114	0,27	0,14	Big	2	1	Pale yellow to yellow brown	An oily tree with a characteristic pine scent that can be very strong at first
River cedar, or Californian (Libocedrus decurrens)	409	703	0,111	0,18	0,11	Small	2	1	Red brown	Excellent uniform texture. Strong spicy smell
Thuja western (Pinus ponderosa)	352	605	0,096	0,16	0,07	Very small	2	1	Yellowish brown	Characteristic spicy scent, very soft wood, breaks easily. Both are marketed as white cedar
Thuja giant, or folded (Thuja plicata)	375	695	0,102	0,17	0,08	Small	3	1	Reddish brown	Gets dirty with metal and tends to crack easily. One of the most durable trees. Characteristic scent of cedar
Group C: low odor or odorless
Great fir (Abies spp.)	440	757	0,118	Volatile		Small to moderately large	1 - 3	3	Almost white to pale reddish brown	Several species with the same characteristics are sold under this name. Unpleasant smell of green wood disappears after aging
Agathis Palmerston (Aqathis paimerstoni)	461	793	0,124	0,17	0,14	Moderately small	2	3	Pale cream to light brown	Local in Australia. Other types of agathis are too dense. Excellent regular fiber structure. Without smell.
Araucaria angustifolia (Araucaria angustifolia)	553	951	0,149	0,31	0,21	Very big	3	3	Variegated: brown to bright red with dark stripes	Local in South America... Usually too dense for a sauna. Without smell
Araucaria cunninghamii	497	855	0,134	0,23	0,18	Big	2	3	Very pale brown to yellowish brown	Local in Australia. Logs of only young trees are light enough for a sauna. Excellent regular fiber structure. Without smell
Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii)	386	664	0,105	0,22	0,11	Moderately small	2	3	Almost white	Very soft wood with smooth grains, odorless
Canadian spruce, or white (Picea giauca)	471	810	0,126	0,24	0,13	Moderately large	2	3	Almost white	Smooth texture, straight fibers, odorless
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)	450	774	0,120	0,20	0,14	Moderately small	1	3	Light reddish brown	Smooth texture. Elastic wood, odorless
Poplar (Populus spp.)	450	774	0,120	Volatile		Moderately large to large	3	3	Grayish white to pale brown	Solid wood. American and European varieties have the same properties: very good fibrous structure without streaks. Very resistant to splitting
Sequoia evergreen (Seguoia sempervirens)	458	788	0,123	0,14	0,09	Very small	1	1	Cherry to deep red brown	Straight grain wood; prone to splitting, resistant to decay and extreme temperatures. Sweat and metal stains can form. Very durable
Linden (Tillia spp.)	417	717	0,112	0,31	0,22	Very big	3	3	Creamy white to creamy brown	Heavy wood. Excellent even texture and straight grain
Triplochiton hard resin (Triplochiton scleroxylon)	384	661	0,103	0,18	0,11	Small	2	3	Yellowish	Solid wood. Smooth fine fibers, very resistant to splitting
Western hemlock (Tsuga herarophylla)	474	815	0,128	0,25	0,12	Moderately large	3	3	Light red-brown	Smooth fibers. Non-resinous. Faint sour smell when wood is fresh

1. Density is given at 15% moisture content and represents the average for each breed. The density of these types of wood varies widely depending on the geographical area where it was grown, as well as depending on where the sample was cut in the log. The values \u200b\u200bgiven in columns 2 and 3, calculated from the density, also have an average value for each breed.

2. These values \u200b\u200bindicate the amount of heat in kJ needed to raise the temperature of 1 m of wood by 1 °. The heat capacity of softwood with 2% moisture content and at 90 ° C is approximately 1.72 kJ / kg ° C. The lower the numerical value in this column, the better.

3. Thermal conductivity (K) of wood is given at 2% moisture content and at 90 ° C, which corresponds to normal conditions in a sauna during its use. The lower the digital value, the better.

4. The water absorption of wood, tangential and rational, is given as a percentage of its value at 20% moisture content for every 1% reduction in moisture content. The percentage of water absorption is determined by the addition of water absorption in the tangential and radial directions (T + P) as follows: 0.25 - very small; 0.25-0.28 - small; 0.30-0.34 - moderately small; 0.35-0.39 - moderately large; 0.40 is large. A small change in humidity is preferable.

5. To compare the resistance of wood to splitting due to drying (compression), the respective properties of the tensile forces acting perpendicular to the fibers were expressed as a function of their percentage of tangential moisture movement. The numbers obtained were classified into the following three categories: 1 - high resistance to splitting, 2 - medium, 3 - low. The lower the value in this column, the better.

6. Resistance to decay was classified into three categories as follows: 1 - decay resistant, 2 - moderately resistant, 3 - unstable.

The grades listed below, although similar in some properties to the grades indicated in Table 1, are not suitable for the construction of a sauna
Abies alba	European white fir, or comb	Unpleasant sour smell
Cedrus spp.	Thuja giant	Many knots, very dense, with a strong odor
Chamaeparis nootkaneusis	Nutkan cypress	Bad smell
Luniperus virginiana	Juniper virginiana, or pencil tree	Many knots, high density
Larix deciolua	European foliage	High density, easy to crack
Larix occidentalis	Listvinnitsa western	Too tight
Pinus banksiana	Pine Banks	Too resinous, too many knots
Pinus palustris	Swamp pine
Pinus pinaster	Seaside pine	High density
Pinus rigiola	Pine hard	Too dense, very resinous
Pinus serotina	Late pine	High density
Pinus spp.	Caribbean pine	Too dense, very resinous
Pinus virginiana	Virgin pine	High density
Taxodium distichum	Swamp cypress ascending	Unpleasant musty smell

Each type of wood, in addition to special properties, has a unique individual smell. It can be very persistent and strong, or vice versa, subtle - but it is certainly present in any case. Connoisseurs are able to determine the belonging of a material from wood, focusing only on how it smells.

Perhaps some are familiar with the smell of wood that reigns in the carpentry workshop - so quite characteristic, reminiscent of turpentine. At the same time, however, if, for example, a pine tree is sawn at this moment, the coniferous aroma drowns out everything else. There are also some tree species with this feature.

By the way, the ability to retain the smell must be taken into account if you order furniture or other items made of natural wood. It happens that it lasts for quite a long time. What determines whether a tree will smell intensely after cutting or not? As a rule, it's all about the amount of resin and other substances (including tannins).

The core of the wood smells the most, because it is there that the amount of odorous substances reaches its maximum concentration. A freshly felled tree smells the strongest, then the smell becomes weaker, it may even change. Rosewood and bakout have, say, a vanilla smell. In practice, pleasant woody odors are taken into account when making containers for products such as honey and butter.

Juniper and cypress, lemon tree, orange, tulip tree smell nice. Thuja smells of bergamot, rosewood smells like roses, acacia - violets or raspberries, star anise - anise, peach - almonds, yellow wood - lemon or musk. The pleasant ones are also useful. Because they work as a natural antiseptic, clearing the air from harmful impurities and microorganisms. It is easy to breathe in rooms made of natural wood, it is good for people and pets.

Teak smells of rubber, balsamic poplar - leather, camphor laurel - camphor. Sterculia and paulownia have very unpleasant odors, as well as ginkgo, winged lofira and some others. All these trees grow in other countries and even on other continents.

By the way, this is why you should not get too carried away by exotic in decoration and purchase of interior items. At first, it will be useful to ask what kind of wood and where it is from, to find out everything about it, if it belongs to unfamiliar species.

Keeps smell after drying camphor wood, teak, juniper. It disappears from acacia, walnut, oak, alder.

If the smell of the wood has changed, most likely, this indicates that the decay process has begun. Another case is a juniper, which has long dried up in the forest and has endlessly been exposed to various precipitation, frost, etc. And, nevertheless, if you break off a branch from it, you will feel a strong aroma immediately. Moreover, if you wet the cut site, it will become even more intense. True, it also happens that mushrooms, which have a destructive effect on wood, give it a pleasant aroma. Let's say the needles smell like vanilla.

Oak, cedar, cherry wood also has a rather persistent peculiar smell. True, it is not so easy to describe it in words. The classification of odors in terms of their strength has not yet been developed enough, but there is some data on this topic. They go in descending order:

• Pine (very strong odor, 2000 mg / l air)
• Juniper
• Pine resin
• Birch tree

By the way, in terms of intensity, the trees are followed by substances such as ethyl alcohol, vinegar, chloroform, and musk. In comparison with the above plants, their scent strength is rather weak.