page_title: Floral scent
section_title: Mediated biotic interactions
hierarchical_section_title: Floral scent / Biotic interactions / Mediated biotic interactions
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of a pollinator preparing to land on an inflorescence of Antirrhinum majus subspecies striatum, in the Pyrenees, France.
context_page_description: Floral scent or flower scent is composed of all the volatile organic compounds, or aroma compounds, emitted by floral tissue. Floral scent is also referred to as aroma, fragrance, floral odour or perfume. Flower scent of most flowering plant species encompass a diversity of VOCs, sometimes up to several hundred different compounds. The primary functions of floral scent are to deter herbivorous and especially florivorous insects, and to attract pollinators. Floral scent is one of the most important communication channels mediating plant-pollinator interactions, along with visual cues.
context_section_description: A major function of floral scent is to attract pollinators, and hence to ensure reproduction of animal-pollinated plants.
  Some families of VOCs presented in floral scent have likely evolved as herbivore repellents. However, these plant defenses are also used by herbivores themselves to locate a plant resource, similarly to pollinators attracted by floral scent. Therefore, this phenotypic trait is subject to antagonistic selection pressures (positive selection by pollinators and negative selection by herbivores), leading to contrasting evolutionary patterns.
caption: Pollinators use both floral scent and floral colour to locate flowers of Antirrhinum majus spp. striatum.[11]
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