Phragmipedium schlimii

[Subrosa]

A fresh import from Ecuagenera, it arrived in bloom. I'm hoping it's fragrant, but nothing yet:

[Bulbopedilum]

Looks nice. Good luck!

[MrHappyRotter]

Nice. The fragrance of P. schlimii is really lovely. To me it smells like sweet, rose scented perfume.

Some things I've noted over the years...

It seems like there are some people who can't detect the fragrance. I don't believe it's age related, and if I had to guess it may be something along the lines of a genetic predisposition similar to the way some people love cilantro, but to others it tastes like soap.

Not all clones have fragrant flowers and of the ones that are fragrant, the strength varies quite a bit. The scent is strongest in the morning. It's also highly dependent on environmental factors, so they're often fragrant at home or in a greenhouse, but when taken out of the growing space (such as when displayed at an orchid show) they won't be fragrant. Reminds me of that dancing frog from Looney Tunes, Michigan J. Frog. You smell it at home, but then take it to a show and there's nothing.

For whatever reason some of its hybrids are more fragrant than P. schlimii itself. The two best examples are P. Hanne Popow and P. Seymour Tower. I find that fascinating considering that neither P. besseae nor P. dalessandroi are fragrant. Granted, it's always possible they are fragrant, but it's a scent that isn't detectable to humans, who knows?

This species is also a pretty cool example of convergent evolution. There's a striking resemblance between Phrag. schlimii, Paph. delenatii, and Cyp. reginae. All three have settled on white sepals and lateral petals, purple/pink balloon/bowl shaped pouches, and yellow staminodes.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Very nice. This is such a cute Phrag.

[Subrosa]

And the icing on the cake.......when I cleared away the moss the plant was packed in to pot it up, it became quite clear that I had 2 separate plants! Definitely not a piece that broke off, because although the roots were major my intertwined there was no connection at the base of the plants.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I have had that happen also and it is defiantly a win.

[Subrosa]

Looks like this cake might have sprinkles on it as well as icing:

[estación seca]

The only way to improve that is to make it rum cake.