Hello tbrigham,
Good smell is somewhat subjective. For example, some people will
smell a particular variety of cheese and say, "Disgusting!", while
other people will say, "How fragrant!"
Still, I think you can conclude that the white lily -- also known as
Madonna lily or Lilium candidum -- smells good to most people, since
it is commonly used in perfume. See, for instance:
"Madonna lily" ["... white, bell-shaped flowers that yield an
essential oil used in perfumery"]
Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/madonna-lily
Here is a generally positive description of the smell:
"The flowers of the Madonna lily have a very sweet, heavy floral,
honey like fragrance with a short cresylic, ylang ylang like topnote
and, at other times of the day, a suave, balsamic sweet fragrance."
"lily absolute" [section entitled "Description"]
The Good Scents Company
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/ab1065121.html
But not everything about the scent is positive, even in that
description: some people might not like "a very sweet, heavy floral"
fragrance. The following description confirms that the smell is not
uniformly good:
"The flowers ... have a strong, sweet, penetrating perfume, so
powerful as to be even annoying to some people."
"The petals communicate their fragrance to almond and olive oil, and
also to lard, and have thus been employed in the past by perfumers."
"Lily, Madonna" [last paragraphs of "History" and "Cultivation"]
Botanical.com ["A Modern Herbal," by Mrs. M Grieve]
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/l/lilmad24.html
In sum, the white lily basically has a good scent, but not entirely or to everyone.
- justaskscott
Search strategy --
Searched on Google for following terms, alone or in combinations:
"white lilies"
"white lily"
"madonna lily"
"lilium candidum"
perfume
perfumes
perfumery |
