Table of Contents
A List of Orchids And What They Smell Like
Dendrobium anosmum smell like strawberries.
We've put together a list of the most fragrant orchids, along with what they smell like. This will give you a good idea of which fragrant orchids you may want to add to your collection, and which pairs go well together.
Brassavola nodosa (sweet, floral)
Brassavola ‘Little Stars’ (sweet)
Cattleya Alliance (floral, sweet, citrus)
Cochleanthes amazonica (spicy, candy)
Dendrobuim anosmum (raspberry, strawberry or rhubarb)
Dendrobuim parishii (berries)
Dendrobium nobile (floral)
Encyclia fragrans (vanilla, honey)
Encyclia radiata (coconut)
Lycaste aromatica (cinnamon)
Maxillaria tenuifolia (coconut)
Miltoniopsis (rose)
Neofinetia falcata (coconut and jasmine)
Oncidium Sharry Baby (chocolate and vanilla)
Oncidium Twinkle (vanilla)
Oncidium Hawaiian Sunset (floral)
Oncidium cheirophorum (sweet, citrus)
Oncidium ornithorhynchum (vanilla)
Phalaenopsis Caribbean Sunset (rose)
Phalaenopsis Coral Isles (citrus)
Phalaenopsis Orchid World (spicy)
Phalaenopsis schilleriana (rose)
Phalaenopsis violacea (floral)
Vanda coerulescens (grape bubble gum)
Zygopetalum (hyacinth)
Aren’t these scents intriguing? If you’ve been collecting orchids before for their looks or rarity, then this list of orchid scents might encourage you to start collecting for their unique fragrances.
Why Orchids Have Scents
Just like regular flowers, an orchid's fragrance plays a key role in their continued survival as it attracts pollinators like butterflies, bees, wasps, hummingbirds, and beetles. The most fragrant orchids usually have very bold, bright colors as well, and this helps to attract the pollinators to them. It's the orchid's way of letting them know that there's nectar for them to feed on.
How Orchids Attract Pollinators
Each different orchid type has a slightly different way to attract the pollinators to them. Some trick the pollinators with their fragrances but they actually have no nectar for them to feed on. One example is the Prasophyllum fimbria, or the fringed leek orchid.
The fringed leek orchid uses fragrance to attract bees and wasps that forage for nectar despite having none. (Img Source)
Other orchids will produce scents that mimic bee or wasp pheromones to attract them as well. One example is the Chilogolottis reflexa, or short-clubbed wasped orchid.
The short-clubbed wasped orchid practices sexual deception on the male wasp that tries to breed with it.
Additionally, fragrances tend to shift and get more complex the longer you smell them. You may originally smell a citrus scent that slowly shifts to a more floral one the longer you smell it.
Orchids also have their strongest scents during the early morning hours in the bright light because this is traditionally when the pollinators are at their most active. As the day goes on and as the heat rises, the orchid's scent fades because the pollinators become less active.
Colorsplay an important role in attracting pollinators for the orchid as well. Beetles are attracted to reddish brown or dull green orchids with strong, foul scents while butterflies go for the sweet-smelling flowers that are bright red or yellow. Finally, bees gravitate to sweet smelling orchids in shades of purple and blue.
As orchids have gained popularity during the last few years, people have begun to breed hybrids to get more fragrant species, and the perfume industry uses several scents to make their products. The scents are also judged by a variety of panels, and they get points based on their fragrance complexity and intensity.
(Featured image by Karl Thomas Moore - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Source)
More Interesting Orchid Info
