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Osmanthus fragrans is treasured for its tiny but amazingly sweet-smelling flowers. For more information on fragrance gardens, visit Gardening in a Minute.
In the basket there are strings of mixed flowers, Chevvanti and very fragrant jasmines for which Madurai is famous .
The size of the basket and flowers can be guessed by comparing with the vendor's hands holding it.
P. 'Incense' x P. cincinnata (R. J. R. Vanderplank, 1999)
P. 'New Incense' has a delicate scent (lemon with honey).
1st flower this season
I obtained a compot of Dendrobium parishii varity alba from H&R Nurseries two years ago, this is the first bloom of one plant.It has seven flowers with an natural spread of 1 1/2 inches (38mm) on one cane. very pleasant fragrance.
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OSMANTHUS
Greek osma = English fragrant
Greek anthos = English flower
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Osmanthus, native from the Himalaya (where it is found at 1,200–3,000 m above sea level) to China, Indochina and south Japan, was formally described by João de Loureiro, a Portuguese Jesuit Missionary, whose book Flora Cochinchinensis, published in 1790, included descriptions of plants from Cochinchina (in southern Vietnam), China and Mozambique.
However, it was introduced to Europe in the middle of the 19th century by Jean Marie Delavay, a French Botanist. During his tour in China, Delavay studied and described over 4000 species of plants, at least 1500 of which were unknown before. Osmanthus was one of those plants.
Osmanthus delavayi and a few other plants were named after the Botanist.
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Osmanthus fragrans has a long history of use in herbal medicine, and is used in perfumery and as a flavoring. The flowers are used to make a scented jam and tea (hence its common name, Tea Olive). In traditional herbal medicine, a decoction of the stem bark is used to treat boils and carbuncles. The essential oil has insect-repelling properties.
This starts blooming in September-October, continues through the winter, sometimes as late as April or May of the following year.
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Blooming scented flowers in a potted plant.
Osmanthus fragrans
Family Oleaceae
Vendor's display, The Harry P. Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida, USA.
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Day six
Location: Mysore
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FRAGRANT ORCHID
At twilight, moth wings quiver among vetches.
Hawkweeds fold inward, suns imploding,
And blackbirds chink in monotone,
Abandoning song.
Pollen, chalk-dust, haze the hill;
In a lamb’s eye, a glaze of sleep,
And on the wind a fragrance stirs
The residue of day.
By moonlight, moth tongues probe the flowers
And curling tubes receive them, musk-pink
And translucent; nectar-titred,
Candied receptacles.
Moth tongues caress the moist viscida.
Pollinia drag as they withdraw,
Nature’s anti-prophylactics,
Slim packages of sperm.
Source material: David Lang, Orchids of Britain: A Field Guide, Oxford, 1980. Poem by Giles Watson, 2009.
Note that if you view this photo in its large version, you can see the level of the nectar inside the spurs which accommodate the tongues of moths or butterflies.
Okochi Sanso Garden, 8-3 Sagaogurayama Tabuchiyamacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 616-8394, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan