The antiquity of floral secretory tissues that provide today’s fragrances

ABSTRACT

It is well known that flowers use scents to attract pollinators and that these fragrances are composed of a mixture of different chemical compounds, many of which form the basis of perfumes and colognes we use today. An examination of fossil flowers in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber and mid-Tertiary Dominican amber revealed a range of secretory tissues in the form of nectaries, glandular trichomes, eliaphores and osmophores. These tissues most certainly secreted liquids and volatiles to attract pollinators, just as they do in modern flowers. The morphological similarities of secretory tissues found on fossil flowers dating back to 100 mya to those of their present day descendants suggests that ancient and modern flowers may have produced similar essences, including those used in the production of today’s perfumes and colognes.

KEYWORDS:

• Floral secretory tissues
• Burmese amber
• Dominican amber
• perfumes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Roberta Poinar for discussions on the subject of floral essences, John and Martha Nygaard for the use of Figure 14, and two anonymous reviewers who provided information and comments that improved the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.