Printed from smellbook.com/smells/lilac. This printout keeps the entry for Lilac itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
A soft spring floral smell with sweet, green and powdery associations.
Its type, Source, means the smell is named after “a physical origin that can contribute a smell”; it is not an evidence source, such as a study or a book. The origin page for Lilac (the plant, not this smell entry) lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Lilac is soft, sweet and floral, with a powdery note and a fresh green lift from leaves and stems. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
This entry links to
Other entries that link to this one
Links SmellBook records for this entry: what it comes from, where you meet it, molecules, related smells and comparisons. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT LILAC
Lilac is soft, sweet and floral, with a powdery note and a fresh green lift from leaves and stems. The scent is gentle up close but carries well on warm, still air. Fresh blooms smell lighter and almost watery; as they fade the sweetness turns heavier. Some people compare it to hyacinth or to old-fashioned soaps and talc.
It is met in spring gardens and parks where lilac shrubs bloom, along hedgerows and fences, and in vases of cut flowers indoors. The scent often drifts over walls on warm evenings in late spring.
Typical settings: flowering shrub, garden, cut flowers.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Characteristic scent compounds of lilac flowers. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
2 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. Each molecule this claim names has only the role the claim states.
Lilac is a botanical and cultural floral reference with strong spring associations.
SmellBook records one written comparison with other smells: see it in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: How do green and herbal differ?, Why is creamy not just sweet? and Where do floral and powdery meet?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Characteristic scent compounds of lilac flowers
Headspace analysis of fresh Syringa oblata flowers found the four lilac aldehydes and four lilac alcohols to be the characteristic components of their scent, alongside abundant volatiles such as α-pinene, linalool and the farnesenes.
One lilac species, in white and purple varieties; composition, not odour potency.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: primary study; chemistry work.
Zu-Guang Li, Maw-Rong Lee & De-Long Shen
DOI 10.1016/j.aca.2006.01.074Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role the claim states. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
MY SMELLBOOK · LOCAL ONLY
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MAP THIS SMELL
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Lilac.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0064 — Lilacsmellbook:smell:lilachttps://smellbook.com/smells/lilacSmellBook. (2026). Lilac (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:lilac. https://smellbook.com/smells/lilac@misc{smellbook_lilac_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Lilac},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:lilac},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/lilac}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-lilac-r3 TI - Lilac AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/lilac N1 - SB-0064; smellbook:smell:lilac; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/lilac ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Lilac is a botanical and cultural floral reference with strong spring associations.
Other entries whose editors linked to Lilac:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗