Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 15:04:11 -0400 From: Perry Malouf <pmalouf@access.digex.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3339$foo@default> Subject: Re: Nepenthes pitcher aroma
Trent Meeks wrote:
> ... I've noticed on several occasions a sweet,
> citric aroma exuding from certain Nepenthes ...On a humid, warm day,
> the aroma can be powerful. Some people do not notice this distinctive
> aroma, others pick it up as soon as they step in the greenhouse...
> Anybody else out there notice this? Which Nepenthes?
I've noticed this for sure with N. ampullaria and N. khasiana. There
are probably some others, but I haven't pinned down which ones yet.
The aroma I've detected does not have a citric quality to it. It's
more like a sickly sweet smell; it's tolerable because the aroma is
not very concentrated.
I haven't detected the aroma consistently. What I mean is that there
doesn't seem to be a fixed season when the aroma is present. I might
smell it one day and it's gone the next day, and then I might smell
it again two days later--it doesn't continue all summer or even for
a week. Sometimes I can smell it in winter.
To take this even farther, I suspect that perhaps the plants exude
this aroma only during certain times of the day. I haven't checked
this out yet, but it would explain why I can smell the aroma one day
and not the next.
This occurred to me because one of my oncidiums is in bloom and it
has a fragrance. But I couldn't smell it in the morning before work,
or in the evening when I arrive home. At first I thought that the
person who gave the plant to me was mistaken. I first detected the
aroma on a Saturday at around 10 a.m. The plant room was permeated
with the smell. The fact that this plant emits an aroma only during
certain times of the day explains why I could not detect the aroma
consistently.
Perhaps the same is true for Nepenthes?
Note: Nepenthes flowers seem to emit an odor (NOT aroma) very
consistently!
Regards,
Perry Malouf
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