Smelly Sulfur (4)

Paederia foetida – not exactly a name that rolls off the tongue, or a household name but this unassuming plant (sometimes called Skunkvine, Stinkvine or Chinese Fever Vine) emits a very smelly sulfurous odour.

Forest & Kim Starr [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

If its leaves are crushed or bruised, it emits a mixture of sulfurous odours that occur our friend dimethyl disulfide (that was looked at yesterday). Presumably, this reaction is to stop animals grazing or feeding on it. The plant is found, amongst other places in tropical Asia and Hawaii.

Tomorrow, we will look at the reasons why gas natural gas smells so bad.