Author Topic: Trifoliate flower scent?  (Read 315 times)

citrange

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Trifoliate flower scent?
« on: March 17, 2024, 01:40:04 PM »
I often come across references to the scent of Citrus trifoliata (=Poncirus) flowers. Sometimes they are even said to be 'highly scented'. For example, see https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/citrus-trifoliata/classid.2000048885/
I know different people's sense of smell can vary, but I can detect no fragrance at all from trifoliate flowers.
What do you think? Smell or no smell?

jim VH

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2024, 03:46:39 PM »
Mine have no detectable aroma.

Till

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2024, 04:16:50 PM »
Poncirus in general is scentless. But there are at least 2 clones in the world with very flagrant flowers. One is known to Mikkel. The other one was found by myself. I found an article of a woman in the internet that praised her Poncirus for its beautifully flagrant flowers, obviously not knowing that Poncirus is usually not flagrant. I wrote her an email and finally got budwood. I was NOT able to test her claims because I do not have flowers yet. But she was very sure about the strong smell of the flowers. There are no indications that she has a Poncirus hybrid. Seems to be pure Poncirus. Ilya got budwood from me. Ilya have the grafts flowered since then?

Most nurseries that claim they have a flagrant Poncirus simple lie. That is at least what I believe. If they were true many people had a Poncirus with smelling flowers. But fact is that hardly any knew one when the question was first rised in this forum. Many nurseries even present pictures of normal lemons when they sell Poncirus. And then they speak about flagrant flowers because they believe that any Citrus plant has flowers with scent.

Peep

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2024, 04:28:10 PM »
I've seen this either when they are trying to sell something to people who don't know better, or in trendy articles written by people who don't care and just write pretty words that are fun to read. Maybe some cultivars/mutations have more fragrance, but even then I myself doubt that it would be much to write home about when comparing it to most other citrus cultivars.

Another one of those, in my opinion, scams, is this shop selling Trifoliate fruits: https://www.thewasabicompany.co.uk/products/fresh-flying-dragon

I quote from the page:

Quote
These oranges are rarely eaten raw, instead, they're perfect for cooking. They make wonderful marmalades, syrups and jam and you can also make sweet, chewy snacks by candying the peel with sugar which you can add to cakes and cocktails for a tangy twist.

The rinds can also be a great substitute for lemon zest and used as a cocktail garnish.

Perfect for cooking? Perfect as if there isn't anything much better than this? Not only is there better, this is actually one of the worst.

Wonderful marmalades? If pure trifoliate makes wonderful marmalades, then Yuzu marmalade must blow these peoples panties off with the force of a SpaceX Starship.

Great substitute for lemon zest? That's like saying your garden grass makes a great substitute for lettuce in a salad.

And then they have the balls to ask €44 per kilo for the fruit. They themselves sell the Yuzu for less.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2024, 04:41:33 PM by Peep »

vnomonee

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2024, 01:58:53 PM »
Like Till mentioned, there are probably some seed grown poncirus varieties that do have scented flowers. Someone must have described it in some literature and then that was picked up by plant resellers/nurseries as a fact for describing their offerings even though they most likely do not sell the varieties with scented flowers.

Till

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2024, 06:58:37 PM »
Descriptions in nurseries must in general be critically read. Besides citrus, my other hobby are edible mountain ashes and mountain ash hybrids. I have meanwhile almost all varieties that I have ever found in the internet. It was not easy to get them and so I had to read through many catalogues. It happened very often that genealogies of hybrids were roughly shortened. And what also happened very often that they claimed cultivars to be self-fertile that are definitely not self-fertile. Fruit yeald was also often exaggerated. Some nurseries either do not know better or they just write what sells best. It is some work to compare the information in catalogues with first hand information of the breeders or with information of botanical gardens with university background.

Nonetheless, Poncirus with flagrant flowers seem to exist. Maybe Mikkel can post something about the cultivar he has gotten. I also believe that the woman from whom I got my budwood is absolutely trustworthy. She did not want to sell something. She did not even know that she has something special in her garden. And she was very definite upon my inquieries that she has smelled a very strong odor of the flowers not of the fruits (which are always flagrant). And last but not least she sent me everything for free.

hardyvermont

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Re: Trifoliate flower scent?
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2024, 09:03:16 PM »
This week Precocious Poncirus flowers collected for their pollen were sitting in a small bowl and a faint fragrance came off of them.  First time I have noticed any odor.