Rowan blossom, is it just me or does it stink?

[Pannacotta]

We have a small Rowan tree in our (newish) garden and I have noticed this week that the flowers seem to give off a rather nasty smell, which is sort of musky/putrid.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Wonder if its the particular type of Rowan or if I have an overly sensitive sense of smell....

oh I've never noticed. My rowan's flowers aren't quite out yet buy I'll give them sniff when they are just to see.

Please do pointy, have googled Rowan and smell and can't find any reference to it, so am wondering if my sense of smell is a bit weird!
Or perhaps it is the type we have, maybe some are more potent than others...

Am I right in thinking that rowan flowers are a sort of flat collection of very small white flowers? If so, they are probably fly-pollinated, and therefore smell like the sort of things which flies like... which are generally not nice-smelling so far as humans are concerned

Yes they are quite flat a bit like Elder and I think they are fly pollinated, from my reading.
To me they smell of rotting meat, which really turns my stomach...

used to be known as stink weed when I was a child

therein is your answer LOL

No. But the wayfarers tree smells like semen. Quite vile.

Are you sure that isn't what it is? Has similar flowers and a similar habit.

Orm whgats the one they plant by Spalash? thast the Rowan lookalikey pongy one isnt it?

Yep. That's the one peachy. Tis beloved of town planners because it's pretty and hardy but begad it stinks!

Ah yes, stinkweed then.

rank stuff.

Thank god for this thread. For years I have been telling dh that there is a tree near us that smells like semen. He thinks I am quite mad (as does anyone else I tell!).

At last, I know the truth.

Ours is definately a Rowan. And it does smell bad, at least to me!

Rowan tree.. yes it does smell - vile..... Luckily it goes
away after the blossom turns into red berries but until then ...
it permeates inside the house when doors/windows are open.
It does subside at dusk though :)

Because of the smell in a certain part of my garden I began to think that my neighbours over the fence had a festering "dog toilet". I had started working up to how I would approach them to discuss the smell problem. However after doing a smell check around different areas I realised it was localised to my rowan tree & thus identified the source. A dog poo smell is not what I expected from blossom, most unusual.

I must be the weird one. I love the smell of our Rowan tree.

And very different leaves

I suspect it depends on individual susceptibility to the particular smell. The same chemical, trimethylamine, is in hawthorn flowers

The berries of my rowan turn yellowy-orange - not the usual bright red berries so that might account for the difference. Plus it's only around 7-8 ft tall with lots of blossom at head height. Never noticed the smell in previous years but it has masses more bloom this year

Smells like cat wee. It’s horrible.

Yes its the fly pollination which does it. The pong is short lived though and the berries make it worthwhile IMO,

It’s fascinating that some people find the blossom smells bad to them. I love rowan & hawthorn, remind me of the hedgerows on the lane I lived on as a child. But I hate hyacinths & narcissi!