Structured interviews
For the Aguaruna, many tree odors are idiosyncratic. In other words, people often cannot describe the smells of the bark, sap, fruit or flowers except in terms the tree itself, or other related trees. For example, the likely response to the question:
Yatsujú, chikáuniash wají wají kugkwáwai? – 'Brother what does
chikáunia(
Myroxylon balsamum, Fabaceae) smell like?' would be simply:
Yatsujú, chikáunia chikáunia kugkúawai– 'Brother, it smells like
chikáunia.' Clearly, the lack of abstract smell terms creates a problem for cross-cultural understanding. The only way to adequately communicate what
chikáuniasmells like to a person who has never smelled it before would be either to cut a piece of bark as an example, or, perhaps, assuming technological feasibility, to extract the essential oils and make a scratch and sniff sticker [
10].
Only in a few cases, were informants able to describe the odor of a tree in non-botanical terms. When I asked one informant about the odor of the bark of shishím(Couroupita subsessilis, Lecythidaceae), he replied 'Íki íki mejéawai' – 'It smells like farts.' Another informant said that the heartwood of the tree ugkuyá(Tachigali formicarum, Fabaceae) smells like púku– 'pus.' Also, for many informants, the default smell of trees that do not have any other distinctive odor is: 'séj' – 'blood.' However, other people say of trees with no strong odor simply: 'Númi númi mejéawai' – 'It smells like a tree.'
Of the 182 tree folk genera recorded in this study, 51 (28%) were widely considered to possess a distinctive odor (see Table 2 in Additional file
1). Informants often said that trees that they considered to be related as companions have similar odors. Thirty-nine of the 51 trees listed in Table 2 (see additional file
1) (76%) have odors that are considered to be similar to some other tree. For example, most people said that the fruits and bark of the trees
takák(
Ocotea gracilis, Lauraceae) and
máegnum(
Ocotea floribunda, Lauraceae) have a very similar smell.
Takákand
máegnumare also considered to be companions along with other Lauraceae found in the area. Trees that the Aguaruna consider to have similar odors are almost always in the same botanical family. However, people occasionally compared odors across the Burseraceae and the Meliaceae.
Informants often recognized subtle distinctions among trees they consider to have similar odors. The most important feature uniting members of the Lauraceae in group 4 (see Table 2 in Additional file
1) is the distinctive aromatic odor of the bark and fruit. Gentry also notes that many Lauraceae have a characteristic leaf or bark odor due to the presence of essential oils [[
16], p.40].
Batút(
Ocotea spp., Lauraceae) has an odor that is similar to the other members of its group, but is more rank.
Káikua(
Licaria sp., Lauraceae) has a particularly rich perfume-like smell.
Aguaruna informants very rarely compared the odors of trees they did not consider to be related. Members of the genus
Protium and the genus
Dacryodes (both in the Burseraceae) tend to have a strong odor in the trunk and twig bark, sap and fruit [
16]. I find the odor to be similar to frankincense, copal, and also reminiscent of freshly cut dill. The Aguaruna consider members of these two genera to have similar odors, but they do not group them together as companions. One reason most informants separate
Protium and
Dacryodes is that the characteristic fruit of each is quite distinct.
Protium has fruit that dehisce to reveal a soft white aril [[
16], p.302] surrounding a single hard seed.
Dacryodes, however, has indehiscent fruit.
Table 2 (in Additional file
1) contains 12 trees out of 51 (24%) whose odors informants considered to be unique. Trees with very distinctive odors were almost always also said to be unrelated to any other trees as companions. A few informants placed
tsáik(
Cedrelinga cateniformis, Fabaceae) with
séetug(
Cedrela odorata, Meliaceae) and
awán, which refers to
Cedrela odorata, or
Swietenia macrophylla (Meliaceae) [
17], because all are important timber trees. Likewise, informants occasionally put the trees
chíajap(various
Trichilia, Meliaceae),
ishpíg(
Guarea macrophylla spp.
macrophylla, Meliaceae) and
tapákea(
Guarea kunthiana, Meliaceae) with other trees in the Meliaceae or even the Burseraceae. However, none of the above groupings were recognized by a majority of informants.
Some trees have fairly subtle odors. For example, Aguaruna informants typically said that the tree
magkuák(
Cespedesia spathulata, Ochnaceae) "
imáchik magkuák magkuák kugkúawai"
- 'smells a little bit like
magkuák.' Other trees (see Table 2 in Additional File
1) with odors that are distinctive but weak include
kántsa(various Euphorbiaceae),
dátash(
Aparisthmium cordatum, Euphorbiaceae),
káashnum(
Eschweilera gigantea, Lecythidaceae),
shuwát(
Eschweilera sp., Lecythidaceae),
chinchák(various Melastomataceae),
ipák(
Bixa orellana, Bixaceae),
tsáik(
Cedrelinga cateniformis, Fabaceae) and
tsáchij(
Senefeldera inclinata, Euphorbiaceae). Some informants do not even recognize that the above species have distinctive odors. Interestingly, Gentry [
16] also does not mention odor as a clue for recognizing the above taxa.
As mentioned previously, by far the most common taste term that Aguaruna informants used to describe trees is yumímitu– 'sweet.' I found that this term is commonly applied to just about any fruit that is edible, including ones such as apái(Grias peruviana, Lecythidaceae) that I did not find to be particularly sweet. Of the 182 folk genera collected in this study, 39 (21%) have edible fruit. Informants mentioned taste very rarely for cases other than edible species. One person described the bark of wámpa(Inga edulis, Fabaceae) as yumímitu– 'sweet.' Some informants described the bark of the trees yapúkuit(Ferdinandusa sp., Rubiaceae) and bíchau(various Meliaceae) as yapáu– 'bitter.' The sap of tsémpu(various Myristicaceae) and the fruit of yantsáu(various Guarea, Meliaceae) were also said to be bitter. Fruit of some trees, such as the cultivated toronja(Citrus sp., Rutaceae) are described as chujuín– 'sour.' The sap of ujúshnum(Croton lechleri, Euphorbiaceae) is tsupáu– 'acrid.' I did not encounter any instances of tajáu– 'spicy' in descriptions of trees, but it does apply quite well for the roots of ajég(Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae) and ampágpag(some Piper species, Piperaceae). Kajiáu– 'fermented' did not appear in any tree descriptions.