Fragrance in Allium

Antennaria@aol.com Antennaria@aol.com
Tue, 17 Feb 2004 18:41:22 PST
Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net wrote:
>Mark McDonough mentioned fragrance for Allium 
>perdulce. Mark, is Allium moschatum fragrant? The 
>name suggests that it might be. 

Well, "moschatum" means musky or musk-scented, which of course is not a 
particularly pleasurable scent for most sniffers.  I don't recall any particular 
scent on this species, so I suspect my specimens are inodorous (I always take 
note of floral scents).  However, an allied species in the same genus section; 
Scorodon, namely Allium callimischon ssp. haemostictum; and a delightful dwarf 
autumn blooming species in its own right, has flowers that reek at close hand 
with the stench of gas.  I know only of a couple foul-smelling allium species, 
whereas most species are lightly fragrant, and quite a number are intensely 
fragrant... in fact a recently named subsection of the genus Allium described 
in 1994, is entirely based on fact the blossoms are intensely like hyacinths; 
subsection Odoratae R. M. Fritsch.

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States 
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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