I haven't smelled it, but I suppose the smell would depend on the type of Ho leaf. According to my Essential Oil Safety book by Tisserand/Young, there are 3 different types of Ho leaf:
1) Ho leaf (camphor CT), called Hon-sho in Chinese (true camphor tree), its main constituent being camphor: 42% to 84.1% camphor. This plant is the main source of natural camphor.
Maximum dermal use level:
EU: .03%
IFRA: .06%
Tisserand/Young: .8%
2) Ho leaf (cineole CT), called Yu-sho in Chinese (camphor oil tree), its main constituent being 1,8-cineole: 50% 1,8-cineole in the Chinese type, and 56.7% to 63.7% 1,8-cineole in the Madagascar-type (also known as ravintsara oil, not to be confused with ravensara oil)
Maximum dermal use level:
EU: .2%
IFRA: .4%
Tisserand/Young: 11%
3) Ho leaf (linalool CT), called Ho-sho in Chinese (fragrant camphor tree), its main constituent being linalool: 66.7% to 90.6%. Sometimes also curiously referred to as Ho wood oil.
Maximum dermal level use:
EO: .05%
IFRA: .1%
Tisserand/Young: No limit
I'm only guessing, but from the main constituents, I would assume that #1 probably smells camphorous; #2 like eucalyptus; and #3 like citrus/linalool.
Hopefully more will chime in.
IrishLass