Sniffing Bark

When we were at Lassen National Park, we were reading about the different conifers there. One that caught my eye was the Jeffrey pine whose bark is supposed to smell like pineapple or vanilla.

The guide book read: "The Jeffrey pine may be distinguished from the Ponderosa pine by its needles, which are a duller green than those of Ponderosa pine. The Jeffrey pine is also very distinct from Ponderosa pine in its resin scent, variously described as reminiscent of vanilla, lemon, pineapple, violets, and apple. This may be tested by breaking a small shoot or some needles, or by sampling the scent of the resin in between the plates of the bark."

So, naturally, as we were hiking around the area and encountered the Jeffrey pine, we stuck our noses right up to the bark and breathed deeply.

I wondered if whoever wrote that had ever actually smelled vanilla or a pineapple. Dylan gave up after the first two trees. Riley kept trying and eventually concluded: some of the Jeffrey pines smell like pineapple and vanilla, some don't.

But my budding botanist has some theories about why that might be the case. Suffice it to say, he reasoned that people - all human - smell differently so why shouldn't trees - all Jeffrey pines - smell differently, too?!?

Can't argue with that one.