Scent dictionary · Scent families
Earthy
Đất ẩm
The smell of soil, mushrooms, moss, dark cellars — places short of light and full of moisture. The human nose is more sensitive to this family at low concentrations than to any other, perhaps because it once signalled water and spoiled food.
12 entries · 9 linked compounds
cis-3-Hexenol · 156 °C
Furfural · 162 °C
1-Octen-3-ol · 175 °C
3-Octanol · 175 °C
Guaiacol · 205 °C
2-Methylisoborneol · 207 °C
Lenthionine · 240 °C
2,4,6-Trichloroanisole · 241 °C
Geosmin · 270 °C
150 °CTop
Middle
290 °CBase
9 linked compounds, from 10 of the family’s 12 entries. This is what we have been able to trace so far, not the whole chemistry of the family — entries whose chemistry is still blank will fill in the picture over time.
Every entry
- Burning dry leaves · Lá khô đốtBurn a pile of dry leaves in the garden and stand downwind
- Dried shiitake mushroom · Nấm hương khôOpen a bag of dried shiitake mushrooms and smell at once
- First rain · Mưa đầu mùaStand in a concrete yard as the first rain of the season comes down
- Fresh-fired ceramic · Gốm mới nungA piece of pottery just out of the kiln and still warm, smelled on its unglazed surface
- Leaf litter · Lá mụcDig under the fallen leaves at the foot of a tree and smell the bottom layer
- Musty storeroom · Nhà kho lâu ngàyOpen the door of a room closed for months and smell the first breath of air
- Pond sludge · Bùn aoGently stir the sludge at the bottom of a stagnant pond and smell what rises
- Rain on foliage · Mưa trên láStand under a tree canopy as the rain begins and smell upwards
- Stone moss · Rêu đáA mossy rock in a shady, damp spot; scrape a little moss off and smell
- Straw mushroom · Nấm rơmA fresh straw mushroom snapped in two
- Termite mushroom · Nấm mốiSmell a freshly picked, unwashed termite mushroom
- Wet clay · Đất thó ướtA handful of garden clay, sprinkled with a little water and smelled at once