Friday, February 1, 2008

Mistaken identity

For more than a century, Phalenopsis bellina was believed to be a form of Phalenopsis violacea from Borneo until Eric Christenson's monograph in 1995 distinguished it from its impersonator by virtue of bigger ovoidal leaves, pigmental chemistry and totally different fragrance. In fact, analysis of the chemical content of the fragrance shows consistently different constituents. Its not easy to describe the smell - I would say violacea smells like a very expensive and heavy bodied perfume while bellina is more like a light feminine deodorant....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Had smelled at both plants and this was what i had noted...

bellina - sweet smell
violacea - more spicier

milnek

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