Tinkturenpresse

Stanhopea tigrina Bateman ex Lindl. - Orchidaceae - tiger-spotted stanhopea, Getigerte Stanhopea

Spectacular epiphytic orchid, endemic to Mexico; flowers in groups of 2-4 in a pendulous inflorescence up to 15 cm long; marked with distinctive purplish-brown streaks and stripes on a yellowish background; heavily scented.
„Pollination is by male euglossine bees (also known as orchid bees), which collect floral fragrance compounds from the lip of the flowers.“
http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:658613-1

The genus of Stanhopea (occurring throughout much of the Neotropics from northwestern Mexico to southeastern Brazil) was used as a detailed example of the variation and species specificity in floral fragrance composition. Components of the floral fragrance (adsorbed at a Tenax tube and desorbed with microdistillation) of S.tigrina were p-cymene (2.0%), phenylethanol (6.5%), benzyl acetate (1.0%), phenylethyl acetate (69.4%), indole (3.4%), (Z?)-cinnamyl acetate (1.0%), and (E?)-cinnamyl acetate (15.8%).
[Williams, Norris H., and W. Mark Whitten. „Orchid floral fragrances and male euglossine bees: methods and advances in the last sesquidecade.“ The Biological Bulletin 164.3 (1983): 355-395]

„Its diffusive, 'aromatic-spicy-floral' scent is extremly sweet. One would not expect to contain more than 90% phenylethyl acetate; in fact, it is difficult even to detect this well-knwon substance in the scent… the unusual accord is attributeable to minor constituents accompaning phenylethyl acetate, in particular β-ionone and derivatives, coumarin, p-hydroxy phenylbutanone (raspberry ketone), and vanillin.“
The accord of raspberry ketone with vanilline and coumarin is extremly heavy and probably unique among orchid scents.
[R.Kaiser, The scent of orchids, Basel 1993, 80-81 and 244]

Main component of the headspace of S.tigrina flowers was phenylethyl acetate (87-93%), minor components were e.g. benzyl acetate (1.4-3.2%), (E)-cinnamyl acetate (0-6.4%), phenylethyl alcohol (0.7-1.5%), methyl salicylate (0.2-1.6%), indole (0-1.4%), and vanillin (0-0.2%).
[Gerlach, Günter. „Stanhopeinae Mesoamericanae, V. El aroma floral de las Stanhopeas de Mexico.“ Lankesteriana International Journal on Orchidology 9.3 (2009)] http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/443/44339819008.pdf

Stanhopea tigrina Bateman ex Lindl.
Lindenia, Iconographie des orchidées [E. von Lindemann], Plates 49-96, vol.2 t.51 (1886) [P. de Pannemaeker]
http://plantillustrations.org/species.php?id_species=971681

Stanhopea tigrina CC BY-SA 3.0, Author: Orchi Wikimedia Commons