# Bulbophyllum "Smells"...



## Carkin (May 15, 2014)

Can you help me out by listing the "fragrances" of the Bulbophyllums you know?
I am hoping to add more Bulbo's to my collection but because I grow my orchids in my livingroom I would like to avoid any that are smelly!

The only one that I have taken a whiff of myself is cocoinum...smells like coconuts!


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## NYEric (May 15, 2014)

B. ambrosia is supposed to be pleasant also. I'm looking for good sized pieces of both.


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## Carkin (May 15, 2014)

NYEric said:


> B. ambrosia is supposed to be pleasant also. I'm looking for good sized pieces of both.




I've been looking at this one at Cloud's...they have BS for $25.


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## NYEric (May 15, 2014)

I can get the ambrosia; B. cocoinum is more fleeting.


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## Carkin (May 15, 2014)

Good to know...thank you!


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## NYEric (May 15, 2014)

Yeah, if you can get more than 5 growths it should be good.


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## Carkin (May 15, 2014)

Okay, I'll check it out next time I'm there


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## Trithor (May 17, 2014)

With a name like ambrosia, one would expect it to be pleasant in some way, names like foetida, might be a bit different.


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## lepetitmartien (May 17, 2014)

I'm preparing for a year a (huge) list of perfumed orchids, expect it by this summer. I'm cleaning the taxonomy at the moment.


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## NYEric (May 18, 2014)

there are such lists on the internet. An update would be appreciated.


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## lepetitmartien (May 18, 2014)

The lists on the net are full of errors, I can tell you! Even the book of Steven Frowine has errors, I'm still wondering what are some of the species/hybrids he wrote about!  Now it's a great resource easily available.

It'll be a work in progress, as there's amongst errors, certainly misidentifications, some people have strange nose at work too, but at least there will be something to chew on, revised and updated. Right now I'm at about 3600 listed names, and half thru the taxonomic revision and still packing in some details. At least the names will be correct (Kew/TPL, sorry for the aussies own taxonomy or the fight over the names of european terrestrials), I don't want to enter taxonomic fights but to stand on either consensus or if not, with a regular scientific source easily workable.

And everyone will be able to tell me and so add species, hybrids to the list (yes, I list hybrids!). People on the French speaking forums have already helped a lot, I'll extend the support by then, I just don't want to fill up my mailbox in one go. 

The list will be available for free, and regularly updated (donations allowed, it's a *_lot_* of work). I'll post officially on all the forums I'm on this summer, when the list will be available. :evil:

So a few bulbo with a (really) nice smell :
Ambrosia
baileyi
cocoinum
gerlandianum
lobbii
macranthum
patens
picturatum
purpureorhachis
Madeline Nelson

Enjoy


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## Carkin (May 18, 2014)

Thank you very much! That's super helpful!


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## Fabrice (May 19, 2014)

Claptonense too, smells peach (light)


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## Carkin (May 19, 2014)

Mmmmmm...I love peaches!


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## NYEric (May 19, 2014)

Good info here, thanks.


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## Rick (May 19, 2014)

As far as I have experienced, everything in the subgenus Lepidorhiza is pretty bad (just a matter of distance, but usually like poop).

The Sestochilus aren't usually too bad. Maybe moldy hay or rancid water, but not very strong at best, some actually smell pretty nice. My cornutum smells like fermenting grapes

Those are two big groups of popular bulbo species. 

The Macrobulbon group also smell pretty bad (dirty daipers), but most of these are huge plants and not best for indoor conditions. 

The Stenochilus (patens and macranthum examples) usually smell like cloves/pumpkin pie. Fermenting and spiced fruit is fairly common in this group.

With the exception of the Lepidorhiza group (which probably leaves you with 800 or so Bulbo species to play with) the smell is either good, benign, or so faint that you need to stick your nose in the flower to smell it.


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## Rick (May 19, 2014)

Oh ya the squidly things like virescens in the Pabundia section are pretty rank, the species in this group are usually hard to find.

Also there are odoratisimum and odoratum. One smells good and one smell bad, and I can't remember which!!!:sob:


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## Carkin (May 19, 2014)

Thank you Rick!


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## NYEric (May 20, 2014)

Rick said:


> Also there are odoratisimum and odoratum. One smells good and one smell bad, and I can't remember which!!!:sob:



Now, this is not helpful at all.


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## Carkin (May 20, 2014)

NYEric said:


> Now, this is not helpful at all.




Lol! I am keeping track of all the "fragrances" that have been described to me...I actually had odoratissimum on my list. It is supposed to have a "fruit loops" smell! 
So I guess odoratum is the stinky one!


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## Carkin (May 20, 2014)

NYEric said:


> Good info here, thanks.




I agree Eric! I'm so thankful for all the great descriptions I've been getting. I will share the list I've got soon.


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## Carkin (May 20, 2014)

Upon further investigation...odoratum is supposed to smell nice too!


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## Rick (May 20, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Upon further investigation...odoratum is supposed to smell nice too!



It's a trapoke:


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## lepetitmartien (May 20, 2014)

odoratissimum is the nice one. 

claptonense is now in lobbii, now the different "sorts" of lobbii don't smell the same, but it's all good though not very strong.

Right now I have about 79 bulbos species and hybrids wit something to smell, and there's quite a bunch of nice ones. More than people think (or stink  There must be more fragrant, i'll take inputs! :evil:


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## Carkin (May 21, 2014)

Wow 79 bulbo's!!! Impressive. How do you like to grow yours? Do you have a favourite?


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## Carkin (May 21, 2014)

Rick said:


> It's a trapoke:




Lol...maybe I should keep it off the good smelling list just in case!


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## lepetitmartien (May 21, 2014)

Carkin, I don't have 79 Bulbos, I compile a list of scented orchids… and I have already 79 Bulbos on it.


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## Carkin (May 21, 2014)

Oh...sorry, I got a little too excited and misunderstood!  Thank you for the clarification.


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## lepetitmartien (May 21, 2014)

In a few months you'll have a list of about 3600 orchids to chew on. 
(to start with) :evil:


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## Carkin (May 21, 2014)

I'm really looking forward to it!


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## Rick (May 21, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Wow 79 bulbo's!!! Impressive. How do you like to grow yours? Do you have a favourite?



I think I have more than 25 species (not as impressive as 79)

But might give you some ideas. My favorites are in the section Hyalosema

They all like high humidity and sensitive to high fertilizer. Until I realized they were sensitive to high fertilizer I thought they just liked to be mounted or in open baskets. So virtually all are on mounts or in baskets rather than pots. If you go to pots then probably can skip all but extremely weak feeding. Except for the really big species like echinolabium.

Light requirements vary a lot. The thicker the leaf the more you can put in higher light locations.

They all like lots of water, but that could just be me since they are all in open systems that don't retain much moisture.


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## Carkin (May 22, 2014)

25 species is super impressive! (Especially considering that someone having 79 was just a figment of my imagination )
Thank you for sharing your fav's and cultural tips. I will have to check out that section of bulbo's. Do you use plastic baskets or wooden?


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## Rick (May 22, 2014)

Carkin said:


> 25 species is super impressive! (Especially considering that someone having 79 was just a figment of my imagination )
> Thank you for sharing your fav's and cultural tips. I will have to check out that section of bulbo's. Do you use plastic baskets or wooden?



Mostly wooden but I don't think it matters. In a few cases I stuck a potted plant into a basket intending to come back later and take the pot out. But the plants would go ove the top and surround the basket anyway.


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