First of all, we need to know the structure and physiological characteristics of heather.
Heather is a plant that likes sunshine, drought, cold and humidity. Its flowers have the dual advantages of fragrance and color, and are excellent materials for making scented tea or wine. The corolla of heather is white or pink, with five petals at the mouth. There are a lot of nectaries under the petals, which can secrete sweet nectar. In addition, the stamens of heather are very special and have high cross-pollination adaptability. After the stamen of heather grows, the anther on it will expand rapidly, resulting in the rapid release of the powder in the anther. This dioecious structure makes heather very competitive in cross-pollination and can attract many insects to pollinate.
So, why does heather smell like semen? Some researchers believe that this may be caused by stamen fluid secreted by heather. The liquid secreted by heather stamens is mainly pollen and pollen tube, but their components are not pure pollen, including some protein, amino acids and enzymes, which are quite similar to those of semen. Therefore, heather may have a smell similar to semen because of the components contained in its stamen fluid.
In addition, there is a view that the fragrance of heather is related to its gender. It is generally believed that the evolution of organisms is an extremely complicated process, involving not only individual morphology, physiological characteristics and heredity, but also reproductive mode, heterosexual attraction and group genetic structure. Cross-pollination is the main pollination method in the reproductive process of heather. When insects come to the stamens of heather, the liquid and pollen on the stamens will attach to the insects and pass them on to other flowers. The smell produced by Heather may be an adaptive mechanism of heterosexual attraction. Because the liquid on the surface of heather stamens contains certain protein and enzyme components, these components provide a good nutrient source for insects, and can attract insects to stay on heather flowers, thus increasing the success rate of cross-pollination. Therefore, the smell of heather may be the result of evolution, which is gradually formed to attract insects and increase the success rate of male and female pollination.
In short, there is no clear answer as to why Heather smells like semen. Perhaps this problem needs further research and more sophisticated experimental methods to explore its reasons. However, from the perspective of biological evolution, the smell of heather is probably the result of an adaptive formation, which is gradually formed in order to attract insects and increase the success rate of cross-pollination.