Scent of Ferraria crispa
Canning, Scott (Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:50:57 PDT)

Interesting that Paul describes the scent of vanilla surrounding his
Ferraria at Berkeley. We grow several color forms of Ferraria crispa,
mostly dark with white markings or even darker still, and have noticed
the pronounced smell of sweet-smoked meat, like hickory-smoked pork or
smoked beef jerking. Not just my sensitive nose; we have a concensus
here at Wave Hill that this best describes the odor of these fascinating
flowers.

Scott Canning

Director of Horticulture

Wave Hill ~ A Garden and Cultural Center

675 West 252nd Street

Bronx, NY 10471

(718) 549-3200 x261

http://www.wavehill.org/ <http://www.wavehill.org/>

<<<<<<<I've always loved the vanilla fragrance of Ferraria crispa but
with age have had increasing difficulty in bending over to savor it
fully.

Berkeley is in the third day of a heat wave (high 80's) and much to my
delight, the whole area around them is now filled with their heady odor.
This odor comes from what I describe as the standard white form and I've
often been struck how weak or even absent it is in the ones with darker
flowers. We label the latter as 'sp.' but I've been told by several that
they are forms of F.crispa, even though they tend to have less
fragrance, bloom earlier and grow more vigorously. I guess there are
tradeoffs.

Paul

Paul Licht, Director

Univ. California Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

Berkeley, CA 94720

(510)-643-8999

http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/
<http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/> >>>>>