# Question about Yellow Neofinetia Colors and scent



## Papaholic (Apr 21, 2010)

Hello All,
I know about the raging debate with yellow neos being a cross vs species plant which to me is not an issue so much.
What I would like to know though is, if all yellow neos have a common scent amongst themselves as a yellow flower group (which differs from standard neo fragrance as I understand it), or if each individual yellow variety is distinct in its fragrance?
Is it as strong as standard varieties?
The other part of my question is which yellow neo would be closest to a Canary yellow in color?
I read descriptions ranging from a subtle yellow, others with a golden color, etc... 
I'm sure there is some degree of variation within a particular variety (say Kibana as an example with some slightly darker or lighter but all within a certain range i'm sure).
I see so many yellow varieties available from new world and orchidweb and I am sure there are subtle distinctions between them all though I am far from an expert on the subject and will lean on the opinions of other learned forum members for their thoughts on this as far as sorting out the differences between them and if one variety is more desirable than another as regards to any traits they may have (scent, color, speed of growth, rarity, etc..)
I hope I phrased this in a way that is not too confusing.
Thanks,
Papaholic
P.S. Any additional information, thoughts, or recommendations on yellow neos are certainly welcome!!!


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## TyroneGenade (Apr 21, 2010)

Hello,

You may want to read http://newworldorchids.com/pages/yellowneo.htm


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## NYEric (Apr 21, 2010)

The smell is from the same cause as yellow snow! :evil:


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## Lanmark (Apr 21, 2010)

This is a difficult question to answer in my opinion. All of the yellow Neos I have seen (and I have seen a lot of them) have flowers which open with a pale yellow or pale yellow-green color and darken as they age. 'Ogonmaru' develops a fairly rich yellow color over the life of the flower as do the hybrids between yellow and pink, 'Shukou' and 'Yubae'. I have seen some 'Kikuotome' flowers which got fairly dark yellow in color. The 'Kohou' flowers I have seen didn't seem as dark to me as some of the other yellow Neos I have seen. I think just about all of them hit that "canary yellow" shade of color at some point during the life of the flowers. It also seems to me that the color of the flowers on any given yellow Neo plant can vary somewhat from bloom period to bloom period due to differences in cultural conditions such as light levels and temperatures. All of the yellows I have smelled have been fragrant, but the scent isn't quite the same as a regular Neo's scent nor does it seem to be as strong. It's nice though!  'Zuiun' isn't a hybrid, by the way, and its flowers are a creamy off-white color, sometimes appearing to have soft undertones of yellow or green.


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## myxodex (Apr 27, 2010)

I have a Kohou which has pale flowers that darken a bit with age as Lanmark has described, although I would have prefered a cleaner yellow colour. The plant is vigorous and produced 20 flowers on 2 spikes last year (which I didn't think was possible for a neo). The fragrance was certainly interesting and was different at different times of the day. During the evenings I could smell the neo-like fragrance coming through, but in the late morning sunshine the fragrance was more like honeysuckle flowers (my other neos don't smell at this time of day or only very faintly). The day time fragrance was actually stronger than the evening fragrance. The latter property together with the un-neo like vigorousness (and something about the leaves) does make me wonder about the hybrid theory of yellow neo's. I've also heard it postulated that the reds/pinks are also of hybrid origin, although I personally have problems with this idea given the considerable variation of growth patterns and leaf types that have flowers with at least some pink ... even my Awaharibeni has very pale pink spurs, not to mention Seikai, Kutsuwamushi and the Chinese isolate Shisen has a hint of pink in the flowers, suggesting that neos commonly have a genetic capacity for the pink pigment synthetic pathway. 

Cheers,
Tim


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## Lanmark (Apr 27, 2010)

myxodex said:


> I have a Kohou which has pale flowers that darken a bit with age as Lanmark has described, although I would have prefered a cleaner yellow colour. The plant is vigorous and produced 20 flowers on 2 spikes last year (which I didn't think was possible for a neo). The fragrance was certainly interesting and was different at different times of the day. During the evenings I could smell the neo-like fragrance coming through, but in the late morning sunshine the fragrance was more like honeysuckle flowers (my other neos don't smell at this time of day or only very faintly). The day time fragrance was actually stronger than the evening fragrance. The latter property together with the un-neo like vigorousness (and something about the leaves) does make me wonder about the hybrid theory of yellow neo's. I've also heard it postulated that the reds/pinks are also of hybrid origin, although I personally have problems with this idea given the considerable variation of growth patterns and leaf types that have flowers with at least some pink ... even my Awaharibeni has very pale pink spurs, not to mention Seikai, Kutsuwamushi and the Chinese isolate Shisen has a hint of pink in the flowers, suggesting that neos commonly have a genetic capacity for the pink pigment synthetic pathway.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tim



I like how the yellow Neos smell.  Speaking of 20 flowers on two spikes and unusual vigor, I have an Ootakamaru plant (standard white flowers touched with blushes of pink) which often gets 10 flowers per spike. It's without a doubt the most vigorous plant in my collection. I love the bean leaves too. The roots are fat and grow to incredible lengths in a single season making them the hardest part to deal with. Other than a 3 month resting period, the plant blooms multiple times throughout the year, easily every 6 weeks. I have divided this plant multiple times and it just keeps growing.


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