**7. Case Studies of** *Cymbidium* **Floral Volatiles**

Orchids are the largest, most highly diverse flowering plants, and form an extremely peculiar group of plants. *Cymbidium* is one of the most important genera of orchids for the cut-flower and potted plant markets. *Cymbidium* spp. have great horticultural value as ornamental plants because of their beautiful and fragrant flowers. The *Cymbidium* genus consists of nearly 55 species that are distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical Asia, reaching as far south as Papua New Guinea and Australia [88]. The *Cymbidium* genus can be divided into three subgenera (*Cymbidium*, *Cyperorchis*, and

*Jensoa*) [89,90] and includes *C. sinense*, *C. goeringii*, *C. forrestii*, *C. faberi*, *C. ensifolium*, and *C. kanran*. *C. sinense* is a winter blooming epiphytic orchid usually regarded as a "Spring Festival" flower.

Great efforts have been made to better understand the flowering of orchids such as *Cymbidium*, *Phalaenopsis*, *Dendrobium* and *Cattleya* through biotechnological approaches including tissue culture and transgenic technologies [91–94]. Moreover, while *Cymbidium* orchid species are not all widely cultivated, hybrids of *Cymbidium* orchids lend themselves to cultivation. Some commercially important hybrids have been created for over 100 years. Because of their ornamental and commercial value, *Cymbidium* orchids have been the subject of taxonomic studies and, particularly, species identification [95–97]. In the past few decades, the application of diverse molecular techniques have contributed to widening our knowledge in the flowering/flower development, species identification, and volatile compounds of orchids.
