Printed from smellbook.com/smells/rose. This printout keeps the entry for Rose 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.
Also known as Rose Flower
Spanish (pilot): Rosa · pending native-speaker review · Leer en español (piloto)
Petal softness with green, fresh and sometimes honeyed floral 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 Rose (the plant, not this smell entry) lists every smell recorded as coming from it.
Rose smells soft and petal-like, with a fresh green note and, in some flowers, a light honeyed sweetness. 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 ROSE
Rose smells soft and petal-like, with a fresh green note and, in some flowers, a light honeyed sweetness. The impression is rounded and gentle rather than piercing, though a full bloom can feel rich and close up. A hint of fruit, citrus or spice may appear, depending on the variety. Cut roses fade from bright and dewy to slightly dry and powdery as they age, and the smell is easily mistaken for peony.
It is met in gardens during summer flowering, in bouquets and florist shops, and in many perfumes, soaps and creams. Many people link it with romance, gifts and celebrations, from weddings to anniversaries.
Typical settings: garden, cut flowers, fragrance composition.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
2 VERIFIED scientific claims from 2 published sources are recorded for this entry: Main volatiles of fresh white oil-bearing rose and Two trace odorants of damask rose flowers. Each claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
5 molecules are named in these claims; see the evidence for the role each claim gives them. Each molecule these claims name has only the role its claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell.
Rose is both a living flower and a major fragrance reference; SmellBook keeps those contexts distinguishable.
SmellBook records 2 written comparisons with other smells: see them in Connections.
Words that are easy to mix up: How do green and herbal differ? 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 · 2 claims
How it is described or perceived
Two trace odorants of damask rose flowers
In the flower scent of damask rose (Rosa damascena), aroma extract dilution analysis detected two ultratrace odour-active compounds with high flavour dilution factors, rotundone with a woody note and 4-(4-methylpent-3-en-1-yl)-2(5H)-furanone with a citrus note; adding both to a reconstituted rose aroma gave it blooming and natural characteristics.
One rose species, with the furanone identified from a commercial rose absolute; it concerns two trace compounds, not the whole set of rose odorants.
Also covers: chemistry reported (the claim names compounds or kinds of compounds).
How this was found: Odour analysis with human assessors. People smelled the separated compounds or the material itself (for example gas chromatography–olfactometry, dilution analysis, recombination or a sensory panel). Source: primary study; sensory or perception work. Studied: flowers of damask rose, by aroma extract dilution and a reconstituted aroma.
Teruhisa Ohashi et al.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
DOI 10.1021/acs.jafc.9b03391Chemistry reported
Main volatiles of fresh white oil-bearing rose
Headspace analysis of fresh white oil-bearing rose (Rosa alba) flowers found an aroma-bearing volatile fraction made up mainly of monoterpene alcohols, with 2-phenylethanol, geraniol, and citronellol with nerol the most abundant.
Fresh Rosa alba flowers from Bulgarian clones; relative amounts differed between clones and between petals and whole blossoms, and other rose species and rose oil differ.
How this was found: Chemical composition. Compounds were identified or measured, without any assessment of their odour. Source: primary study; chemistry work.
Daniela Antonova-Nedeltcheva, Ana Dobreva, Kamelia Gechovska & Liudmil Antonov
DOI 10.3390/molecules30153102Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. Each molecule named here has only the role its claim states; one molecule is not the whole smell. 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
Follow the related smells our editors recorded, or use Smell Between to compare this smell with any other, field by field.
WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FROM SMELLBOOK STORIES
Editorial pieces add place, memory and cultural context without changing this entry.
Cutting or twisting citrus peel creates a brief, bright sensory moment that feels sharper than the fruit sitting untouched.
Read ↗MEMORY SERIES · 2026-09-19The smell of clean is learnedFreshness and cleanliness can feel obvious until different homes, cultures and products teach different sensory expectations.
Read ↗CONNECTION SERIES · 2026-09-14Rose beyond perfumeRose can belong to a garden, a memory, food, cosmetics or fragrance. Perfume is only one of its worlds.
Read ↗IN FRAGRANCE & SPACES
Directions name SmellBook entries as descriptions to refer to; they are not product recommendations. Fragrance-free is always a valid choice for a space.
FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Rose.
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-0006 — Rosesmellbook:smell:rosehttps://smellbook.com/smells/roseSmellBook. (2026). Rose (revision 5, 2026-10-14). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:rose. https://smellbook.com/smells/rose@misc{smellbook_rose_r5,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Rose},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 5, 2026-10-14, smellbook:smell:rose},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/rose}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-rose-r5 TI - Rose AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/14 ET - revision 5 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/rose N1 - SB-0006; smellbook:smell:rose; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/rose ER -
The citation names revision 5 of 2026-10-14, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Rose is both a living flower and a major fragrance reference; SmellBook keeps those contexts distinguishable.
Other entries whose editors linked to Rose:
Added VERIFIED evidence through source intake.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-14Dataset 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 ↗