J Fortuna wrote:
One thing that baffles me though are the different descriptions of this
species paph's fragrance. I have seen it described in different vendor's
catalogues as smelling of pine needles, having a raspberry scent, or an
almond fragrance. Now I know that different people have a different sense of
smell, and that different orchids may smell differently (or not smell at
all) under different conditions, and all that, ... but still, I would think
that there is a great difference between the scent of raspberries, pine
needles, and almonds, right?
What is the most likely explanation for the variation in descriptions of
this fragrance? Is it the difference in perception by different people or
difference in varieties within the species or both or neither?
There is probably a bit of both. For Onc. Sharry Baby, I've heard more
than one grower indicate that they tend to smell like chocolate to the
ladies, and something else (vanilla?) to the men. It is a tendency, not
an iron clad rule, but it might represent a gender influenced trait. I
personally hate the smell of Sharry Baby, but that is an acquired
aversion. Aroma is a very difficult thing to describe, so I'm not
surprised that different people associate a given fragrance with
different things. Most people lack the vocabulary (or experiences) to
adequately describe aroma. Me too.
I had an interesting experience with Phrag. Hanne Popow - many clones
smell (to me) like raspberries. Intensely fragrant. But my wife can't
smell them at all. I took some to an orchid meeting and it turns out
that about half of the people in the room could smell it, and half could
not or could only smell it faintly. So there is obviously a human
perception component (probably genetic) as well.
I have noticed a floral (raspberry... why not...) scent to many
malipoense clones (and some hybrids). But they don't all have a scent.
So there is a variation in this species too - not surprizing. What is
invariant is the propensity for the darn things to send up a spike and
then just wait for 6 months before blooming. Frustrating.
Rob
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit
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