Hi all,

after seeing rave reviews of the cananga odorata more than a few times, i bought one few years ago. it was a seedling but grew fast and is a decent size tree in the ground. flowers nicely and they are good to see but where is the fragrance? tried to smell at different times , still to no avail.

not just that, i went ahead and got desmos chinensis and the dwarf cananga. the flowers are very similar and all have slight smell. can't call any of them fragrant.

same time got 2 artabotrys seedlings from 2 different sources and now they are also decent size shrubs and bloom well. even if i don't see the flower i know it is there because of the fragrance. in the dark i can still locate a flower as i can sense the fragance.

whether the ones i got are A. hexapetalus,siamensis or odoratissimus is unclear to me. although i would like to find out by getting one of each. may be in the future.

the issue is , when i see the plants being rated as exquisite fragrance, whether one likes the fragrance or not, the flower needs at least have a smell.

so i dont know if the nurseries have really noticed the fragrance or they feed of each others reviews.

so with this background, in my pursuit for fragrant tropical shrubs/plants

i am looking at the following:

Rauwenhoffia siamensis

Friesodiesia desmoides

Mitrephora vandaeflora.

they look very similar to Artabotrys. looks like they are from south east asia.

anyone with personal experience with any of the above mentioned plants (including canangas) input is much appreciated.

thanks in advnce.

Radha.