Pterygodium catholicum (L.) Sw. - Orchidaceae - Moederkappie (Afrikaans)

Orchid, up to 35cm tall, native to South Africa (Cape region); leaves oblong-lanceolate, encircling the stem; bracts elliptic-acute; flowers appearing mostly after wildfire; cream to sulphur-yellow colored turning reddish with age, strongly acrid (soap and barnyard) scented.

Main components of the flower scent are aldehydes like dodecanal (64.2%) and decanal (6.2%), acids like hexanoic acid (3.8%) and octanoic acid (10.2%), alcohols like decanol (3.3%) and dodecanol (1.1%), benzenoids like p-cresol (3.9%), creosol (3.7%), and the phenylpropanoid eugenol (1.0%).
[Steiner, Kim E., Roman Kaiser, and Stefan Dötterl. „Strong phylogenetic effects on floral scent variation of oil‐secreting orchids in South Africa.“ American journal of botany 98.10 (2011): 1663-1679]

pterygodium_catholicumbolus.jpg
Pterygodium catholicum; Bolus, H., Icones orchidearum Austro-Africanarum extratropicarum (Orchids of South Africa) (1893-1913) Icon. Orchid. Austro-Afric. vol. 3 t. 77 http://www.plantillustrations.org/species.php?id_species=852854

pterygodium_catholicum_devilspeak.jpg
Pterygodium catholicum, Devil's Peak Cape Town (2009) CC BY-SA 3.0, Author: Andrew massyn Wikimedia Commons