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.
Introduction
Floral scents have been used by humans for ages, with some of the earliest records of fragrances dating back to the Bronze Age some 4000 years ago (Arctander 1960). Today we still rely on the appeal of perfumes and colognes to make us attractive and irresistible. But floral scents did not develop for human use. They originated in primitive Early Cretaceous flowers as a means to attract pollinators. When angiosperms were diversifying some 100 million years ago, most flowers lacked petals. Since colors, one of the other methods flowers use to attract pollinators, are typically associated with petals, these early flowers would have depended mostly on scents and nectar to attract potential pollinators.
