Well, I finally am getting around to submitting this beautiful plant for flower identification. Several years ago I was at a garden centre and asked for a fragrant orchid. The merchant said that most orchids he knew of had no fragrance, but he did have one that that a fragrance of vanilla. I babied this plant for about 5 years, misting it every day, it sat on my west facing kitchen windowsill above my sink, so this was a simple matter to remember to mist. Last February this lovely plant produced little tiny flowers, reminding me visually of something similar to a snapdragon. This plant produced flowers for probably close to two months and the fragrance was one that was beyond belief. I can liken the aroma to that of matthiola bicornis, AKA, night scented stock. If anyone has ever grown this lovely annual, you will know the heady, intense and intriguing fragrance that emits once the evening shade comes about. If you have never grown night scented stock, I strongly urge you to get some seed and grow it, you will never regret the scent of this plant nor will you ever forget it. So, getting back to the "orchid", lets identify what it actually is, I am certainly more than anxious. I split this plant this year, as it was actually doing this itself, with little roots growinig along the bottom of several stem parts, it was begging to be propogated. Thanks to all Cindi
It is an orchid, possibly a Dendrobium of some sort. There are lots of scented orchids out there thought the common household Phalenopsis & the lady slippers are generally scent free. See this list for some of the many scented orchids...Scented Orchids Simon
Wow, I am astounded at the list for fragrant orchids, wonder why this fellow at the nursery where I got my fragrant orchid from said generally they are not. Hmm...oh well, maybe he was just misinformed. This orchid blooms for probably more than a month, not evening scented, but is fragrant for a good part of the early morning until just after noon. I honestly would love to know what species it is, but by the sounds of it, it could be one of so many. It really doesn't matter the name given to it, I will just carry on growing it for as many years as I can. It sits on my western kitchen windowsill, and stays green and beautiful all year long, very slow growing and took about 5 years before it actually began to bloom, man, but when it bloomed, it made me appreciate the years of nurturing this little beauty.
Showing more of the stem ('pseudobulb') structure would help, but to me it looks like one of the Australian Dendrobiums. There are now many hybrids derived largely from D. kingianum and it may be one of those.
