Fragrant Orchid dosen't equal "smells good"

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by Ispahan48

O...the intense Fruit Loops smell of Phal Sweet Memory.

...I love eating mushrooms but I can’t swoon over flowers that smell like them!

...Among orchids I personally find unpleasant is Encyclia (Prostechea) radiata.

I want a Phal. Sweet Memory now, but I can't seem to find one here. OrchidRoots says it's made of P. amabilis, P. amboinensis, and P. violacea. I've heard that P. violacea is fragrant itself so I suppose I'll start with that ... someday I'll buy another Phal...

I have a Chamaeanthus brachystachys, a really small orchid, with very small flowers, but the flowers sure do smell. To me it is very fungal. I haven't posted any pictures here, mostly because it arrived in bud with a bunch of spikes so I take zero credit. But whatever, here's a clump of flowers.

The lip is somewhat hinged like in Bulbophyllum but they spring back in place

Ooo, now I'd also like to try to get and bloom Encyclia radiata and smell it!

[Ray]

(Olfactory) Beauty is in the nose of the beholder.

[SouthPark]

A nice piece of kit could be an extraction fan - with chimney, or a fume-hood hahaha.

I went online and MOG (everybody knows MOG by now) describes the smell of Encyclia type orchids (eg. radiata and related) is like horse manure - the smell of a farm. Or in my mind right now - possibly the smell of kiddy farm animal displays that they sometimes hold at festivals.

Very interesting. At least I'll be prepared and roughly know what to expect now hahaha.

Can anybody confirm that the horse manure smell is reasonably accurate for say Encyclia radiata?

[Roberta]

To me it smells a lot better... more like wintergreen (methyl salicylate), a little medicinal but not unpleasant. And not particularly strong. Other people perceive it differently.

[Ispahan48]

SouthPark, my comment was that Encyclia radiata smells to me like cheap licorice and sewer gas, so I guess that "horse manure" really isn't that much of stretch. Think manure with an odd overlay of sweetness. But keep in mind that some people will not detect the manure smell and will love the fragrance of this flower!

[SouthPark]

Thanks Roberta and Isp! When mine flowers, I'll see if I can give my take on it too. For the first time, all this has got me a little scared now hahahaha.

Although ------ I'm definitely ok with medicinal but not unpleasant!

At least we know it's not on the order of Amorphophallus titanum (not an orchid) hehehehe.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

At least we know it's not on the order of Amorphophallus titanum hehehehe.

Not even up to Bulbophyllum echinolabium. (Which is so beautiful I forgive its "aroma")

[estación seca]

I'm always on the lookout for things I can plant in the landscape with fragrant flowers. I came across a South American shrub, Aloysia virgata, or almond verbena, a relative of lemon verbena. I read all sorts of glowing reviews, and it should handle my hot weather just fine. I bought one and moved it up to a 1-gallon pot. It flowered. It does, indeed, have a powerful, sweet, somewhat almond scent, but to me it is overwhelmingly chemical, like suffocating bathroom cleaner mixed with dryer antistatic sheets.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Not even up to Bulbophyllum echinolabium. (Which is so beautiful I forgive its "aroma")

It is great that you mentioned that one Roberta! I have heard of the infamous bulbo ------ probably that particular one (the heads-up about its scent!!!!!).

This thread got me thinking about what's the best way to convey that an orchid has a scent of any kind. And this reminds of something about written and spoken language ---- as there are some words that could be introduced to the dictionary that could make life eaiser, but are not introduced ------ such as, if an orchid has a scent, then could they possibly introduce a word like scentiforous ....... as in 'is the flower scentiforous?' (aka does it have a scent?). Only to reduce the number of words ---- instead of saying 'does this flower have a scent'? (which is actually ok too - but a couple of extra short words added).

The word 'smell' could be ok too. But this is one of those tricky things about english, as 'smell' can be used like 'does it have a smell?' (sort of like adjective form) ------ which is ok, but just doesn't sound right (even though it's ok to use).

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Not even up to Bulbophyllum echinolabium. (Which is so beautiful I forgive its "aroma")

I didn't think the A. titanum I smelled at the Huntington was that bad. The very worst plant smells I've ever encountered have been rotting columnar cacti and rotting Agave americana.

A bacterial genus, Erwinia, specializes in colonizing sick or dying plants. Different Erwinia species attack different plant species. The one attacking Pachycereus pringlei, the cardón, is just awful. It can make you throw up from a distance.

We have a native Agave weevil here. It much prefers exotic species, and it is nearly impossible to flower any of the A. americana varieties here. When one is attacked and collapses the smell of the rotting Agave is overwhelming and nauseating.