Orchid Fragrances

[Kevin]

I didn't know Cyp. parviflorum var. pubescens had a fragrance. I'll have to check it out when they bloom here.

 

[smartie2000]

yes cyp parviflorum has a very strong fragrance! very sweet, like mangoes

 

[parvi_17]

Every one of my pubescens has a fragrance, but they do vary slightly in strength and "type" of fragrance. All are pleasant though!

Actually, most of my Cyps have some sort of fragrance. My montanums have a lovely floral scent. The individual flowers are not very strong but my larger clump can be quite overpowering. One of my reginaes and both my Ulla Silkens have wonderful rosy fragrances. Passerinum has kind of a spicy fragrance too. My Giselas have only faint scents.

I don't have a henryi, but apparently they have a spicy fragrance as well. Acaule has a fantastic watermelon fragrance.

 

[parvi_17]

Oh, and I forgot: Cyp debile has almost a urine fragrance (luckily it's not very strong), and Cyp froschii has a light floral scent.

 

[Shiva]

My choice is Encyclia cordigera. That perfume is extraordinary.

 

[cnycharles]

..... Acaule has a fantastic watermelon fragrance.

huh; all the pink ladyslippers I've seen, and I never bothered to check to see if it was fragrant (I assumed it wasn't for some reason). of course, maybe it's the usual supply of bomber mosquitos that surround the spots where I usually see it around here that kept me from slowing down to sniff them! I also never bothered to try and see if ram's head had a fragrance

 

[parvi_17]

huh; all the pink ladyslippers I've seen, and I never bothered to check to see if it was fragrant (I assumed it wasn't for some reason). of course, maybe it's the usual supply of bomber mosquitos that surround the spots where I usually see it around here that kept me from slowing down to sniff them! I also never bothered to try and see if ram's head had a fragrance

Well, it's hard to say if every plant would be fragrant, but both of the ones I had were fragrant. One of the nicest fragrances of any orchid, actually. It's too bad they're so bloody hard to grow!

 

[Leo Schordje]

I was at Carson Whitlow's some 15 or more years ago, and at the time he felt that in addition to growth habit, habitat choice and floral part differences, one way to separate Cyp parviflorum var parviflorum from pubescens was by fragrance. And they were in bloom.
parviflorum = rancid butter fragrance, tends to grow in open areas, really wet, often in sphagnum bogs.
pubescens = fruity floral sweet, a little like peaches. Tends to grow in forests, or forest edges, more upland & shaded rather than open sunny swamp.

At least that is my experience. I think the taxonomy of this group has been confused a bit by the lumping then splitting then lumping again. It's possible that a fair number of plants may have been distributed under the wrong names. Hard to tell them apart once you don't have their habitat preference to go by.

 

[Kevin]

I'm not sure about var. parviflorum, but var. makasin has a very nice vanilla scent.

 

[likespaphs]

Phal lueddemanniana!

 

[Dido]

Thats interesting here, I never tried the smell of my Cypripedium,
Will try it, at the next bloom.

My Calanthe Tricariniata is very fragrance, I like it, but I cannot say which kind it is.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

I was at Carson Whitlow's some 15 or more years ago, and at the time he felt that in addition to growth habit, habitat choice and floral part differences, one way to separate Cyp parviflorum var parviflorum from pubescens was by fragrance. And they were in bloom.
parviflorum = rancid butter fragrance, tends to grow in open areas, really wet, often in sphagnum bogs.
pubescens = fruity floral sweet, a little like peaches. Tends to grow in forests, or forest edges, more upland & shaded rather than open sunny swamp.

At least that is my experience. I think the taxonomy of this group has been confused a bit by the lumping then splitting then lumping again. It's possible that a fair number of plants may have been distributed under the wrong names. Hard to tell them apart once you don't have their habitat preference to go by.

Leo, definitely this species and its varieties have been mixed up and sold under all kinds of names. Add to that the intergrading of features between varieties and you get a big mess. I don't think anyone has adequately investigated this species in its full extent, though Dr. Charles Sheviak has come the closest. Particularly the northwestern populations need a more thorough look.

As far as smell goes, I'd call var. makasin sweet, not rancid, at least to my noise.

I'm not sure about var. parviflorum, but var. makasin has a very nice vanilla scent.

It is sweet to my nose too, but more than just vanilla. Hard to nail down...

 

[cnycharles]

in this neck of the woods, cyp p. var pubescens sometimes has a light scent, nice floral, not usually very strong. var. makasin has more of a 'rose-like' fragrance, and when we found parviflorum var. parviflorum (the tiny southern upland version), it had a distinctly 'musky' fragrance, which ken hull said sort of smelled like that old-fashioned older female sort of perfume. he's 'older' so has memory of that kind of scent... I of course wasn't alive that long ago so didn't make that association

pubescens is usually much larger plant and often flower than the others around here. makasin may be as tall, but the flowers are not as large as the overall average of pubescens. you may have a very tall flower stem up to and above the leaves, but you still have a pretty small flower given the height of the plant. southern parviflorum if all like the large colony we saw in virginia, is really tiny. I've never seen pubescens in a climate-limited condition where it is stunted to that degree; they really are much smaller than the others though in shadier conditions it might get a little taller, but these flowers were no larger than the end of your thumb, sort of like small white ladyslipper

 

[smartie2000]

My Cattleya quadricolor smelled spicy, I liked that. Many many cattleyas should be on this fragrance list. Some spicy and others very strong and nectary.

Also I am suprised no one mentioned Paph malipoense. Although it is a light fragrance, it is a very fruity one.
My Paph Wossner Butterfly (malipoense x vietnamense) had that fruity smell. Too bad it went to heaven, it was a good clone...

 

[NYEric]

Very strong tangy, savory fragrance.

Like chocolate and lemony from the miltoniopsis.

 

[Lanmark]

My choice is Encyclia cordigera. That perfume is extraordinary.

I'd have to agree about the Encyclia cordigera: Awesome fragrance! :drool:

Encyclia tampense (the normal form) is very pleasant too, especially mid-morning in the sunshine, with a scent I'd best describe as lemony floral sweet. Trichoglottis pusilla smells extraordinarily nice, but you've got to put your nose right up to the flower to enjoy it. Trust me...you'll go back again and again. It's irresistable! Neofinetia falcata has one of my favorite scents, which is lucky for me since I grow more Neos than anything else. The scent has a way of morphing into different fragrances throughout the afternoon, evening, and nighttime into the early morning hours and it tends to wander and intensify. The only period of time mine aren't fragrant starts just before sunrise and lasts until early afternoon. Some of the big Cattleya hybrids are quite nicely fragrant too, and I almost always notice some odd but pleasant component in their scent not unlike a touch of Heliotrope or Oleander. Lc. Marie's Song 'CTM 217' smells exactly like Easter Lilies to me. The scent of Phalaenopsis bellina is particularly good. Anacheilium radiatum (Encyclia radiata) smells wonderful like cinnamon chewing gum when the flowers first open, but give it two or three weeks and it will start to smell like something you don't want in your house: hot rubber and burnt insects. Dendrobium nobile is the first fragrant orchid I ever smelled so I'm forever in love with its scent. :smitten: Last but not least, Vandirea Newberry Jasmine smells very honey-and-perfume-sweet to me...does anyone know where I could get one?

 

[likespaphs]

am i crazy or does my Paph lowii smell a little bit like nag champa?
(remember nag champa? click here....)

 

[luis]

Perfume of chinese cymbidiums are the best!

My prefered perfums untill now are from the chinese cymbidiums... they are strong, sweet and citrus... it's afragrance that lift's my soul... :drool:

 

[luis]

My prefered perfums untill now are from the chinese cymbidiums... they are strong, sweet and citrus... it's afragrance that lift's my soul... :drool:

and this one too

 

[NYEric]

Nice collection Luis.