Printed from smellbook.com/smells/pine-needles. This printout keeps the entry for Pine Needles 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.
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Green, resinous and dry forest character associated with crushed or warmed pine needles.
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 page for Pine lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Pine needles smell green, resinous and clean, with a sharp, slightly sticky brightness when crushed. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
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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 PINE NEEDLES
Pine needles smell green, resinous and clean, with a sharp, slightly sticky brightness when crushed. Warm needles in the sun give a drier, woodier and almost sweet smell, while fresh green needles feel cooler and more piercing. The aroma is clear and lifting and stays on the fingers. It is close to fir and spruce, though pine tends to feel brighter and more resinous.
It is met on forest floors covered in fallen needles, when crushing a sprig between the fingers, and around cut branches and trees brought indoors for seasonal decoration. Walks through pine woods on warm afternoons often feel especially rich in it.
Typical settings: pine forest, forest floor, crushed needles.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Volatiles of pine needle and cone oils. 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.
6 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.
Pine Needles focuses on the plant material itself rather than the wider forest environment.
SmellBook records one written comparison with other smells: see it in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: When does woody become smoky?, How do green and herbal differ? and When is woody also resinous?
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
Volatiles of pine needle and cone oils
Essential oils from the needles and green cones of four pine species contained high percentages of α-pinene, (E)-caryophyllene, limonene, germacrene D, myrcene and δ-3-carene.
Needle and cone oils of four Pinus species from one region, reported together; 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.
Snježana Mirković, Vanja Tadić, Marina T. Milenković, Dušan Ušjak, Gordana Racić, Dragica Bojović & Ana Žugić
DOI 10.3390/pharmaceutics16101331Each 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.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Pine Needles.
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-0014 — Pine Needlessmellbook:smell:pine-needleshttps://smellbook.com/smells/pine-needlesSmellBook. (2026). Pine Needles (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:pine-needles. https://smellbook.com/smells/pine-needles@misc{smellbook_pine_needles_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Pine Needles},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:pine-needles},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/pine-needles}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-pine-needles-r3 TI - Pine Needles AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 3 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/pine-needles N1 - SB-0014; smellbook:smell:pine-needles; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/pine-needles 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.
Pine Needles focuses on the plant material itself rather than the wider forest environment.
Other entries whose editors linked to Pine Needles:
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 ↗