While in Rhode Island in April, I went outdoors near the water (the whole state, of course, being near the water) early one morning, and smelled that wonderful moist-earth fragrance emanating from the ground…That there exists a word to describe this was discussed on one of the programs, but I can't remember the word.
Googling only turned up entries like:
butyric acid; or "…geosmin, that quintessential smell of
spring, which is actually an odor produced by actively working tiny
actinomycetes in the warming soil."
Interesting about the actinomycetes, but the word Martha and Grant mentioned was somewhat more poetic!
Can anyone help?
Here in the southwest Sonoran desert, after a rain, we get a very fragrant sensation. We describe it generically as "pungent" or "organic." But when waxing poetic, we call it "that wet desert smell." Maybe not so "poetic," but we enjoy it.
Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but there is "petrichor" - the smell of rain on dry earth.
Yes. I think that's it!
Thanks. (I seem to remember that was the word mentioned on the program...Does anyone know for sure?)
I don't recall petrichor being mentioned on this show - it could just be my faulty memory. I heard it on an episode of Doctor Who, a few months ago.