In the second episode of Flowerotica we track the orchid, and a floral biology so precise that it can replicate female arousal at the molecular level. From ancient Greece to Victorian greenhouses, landing in a domestic garden in Melbourne, this is a flower that has been running the same naturally selective seduction for two hundred million years. Some flowers get into the chemistry.

Executive Producer, Writer & Host: Nina Ozier

Co-host and Episode Cover Artist: Jake Kaplan

Audio Producer & Sound Mixer: Elliot Terzian

Theme Music: Paul Oliphant

Episode References:

1. Schiestl et al. (1999): "Orchid pollination by sexual swindle," Nature
2. Schiestl et al. (2000): "Sex pheromone mimicry in the early spider orchid (Ophrys sphegodes)," Journal of Comparative Physiology A, Vol. 186
3. Edith Coleman (1927): original paper on pseudocopulation in Cryptostylis leptochila, republished by Edward Poulton in Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society, 1928
4. "Orchid Sexual Deceit Provokes Ejaculation," The American Naturalist, 2008
5. Brunton & Martin: "Orchid sexual deceit affects pollinator sperm transfer," Functional Ecology, 2020
6. British Herbal Guide (1653)
7. Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance (1893)
8. Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief (1998)
9. Fred M. White, "The Purple Terror" (1896)

Desire that arrives before you know it’s hit you. In the first episode of Flowerotica, we follow jasmine from Cleopatra's barge on the Cydnus river, through the sacred bridal rituals of South Asia, into the chemistry of a molecule that speaks a language the body already knows. Some invitations can only be felt.

Executive Producer, Writer & Host: Nina Ozier

Co-host and Episode Cover Artist: Jake Kaplan

Audio Producer & Sound Mixer: Elliot Terzian

Theme Music: Paul Oliphant

Episode References:

1. The Perfume Society: "Jasmine — Mythology, History & Scents" — perfumesociety.org
2. The Perfume Society: "Cleopatra's Fragrance: Finally Recreated?" — perfumesociety.org
3. Histoires de Parfums: "A Brief History of Jasmine" — histoiresdeparfums.com
4. Bon Parfumeur: "Jasmine in Perfumery" — bonparfumeur.com
5. Natural Niche Perfume: "Jasmine Perfume — Properties, Distillation, and History" — naturalnicheperfume.com
6. Perfumer & Flavorist, Vol. 34, October 2009: "Jasmine: The Flower of Flowers" by Rodrigo Flores-Roux, Givaudan — the trade publication source for the Grasse harvest figures and indole chemistry detail
7. Blue Tree Aroma: "The Enigmatic Journey of Jasmine" — bluetreearoma.com
8. Insight Intelligence Group: "Cleopatra's Enigma: The Art of Seduction and Power" — insightintelligence.com.au
9. The Siasat Daily: "Cleopatra's Perfume That Lured Julius Caesar, Mark Antony Recreated" — siasat.com
10. Plutarch, Life of Antony — the original source for the barge scene
11. Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II Scene II — "the winds were lovesick with those sails"
12. Rabindranath Tagore, The Gardener
13. Wikipedia: "Gajra"
14. Garland Magazine: "Mala: The Floral Garlands of India"
15. Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 42

The rose is the most symbolically overloaded flower in human history, precisely because it exceeds every meaning humans try to give it. In this episode, we follow one of the largest and yet perhaps lesser known through lines of the rose, across Greek epigrams, Persian mysticism, and postwar Japan. Wherever desire and love are too big to be contained by the body or the century holding it, the rose finds a way to let it all thrive.

Executive Producer, Writer & Host: Nina Ozier

Co-host and Episode Cover Artist: Jake Kaplan

Audio Producer & Sound Mixer: Elliot Terzian

Theme Music: Paul Oliphant

Episode References:

1. Beverly Seaton, The Language of Flowers: A History
2. Meleager of Gadara, Greek Anthology
3. Straton of Sardis, Mousa Paidike (The Boyish Muse)
4. Solon of Athens: homoerotic poetry fragments
5. Wikipedia: LGBTQ Symbols, Shams Tabrizi, Eikoh Hosoe
6. Kew Gardens: "Four Flowers That Have Become Queer Symbols"
7. Rumi, Masnavi and Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi
8. Eikoh Hosoe, "Subject Matter" lecture, American Suburb X (2010)
9. Aperture: Eikoh Hosoe: Barakei edition notes
10. Metropolitan Museum of Art collection entry on Barakei
11. Nippon.com: "Ordeal by Roses: The Astonishing Artistic Collaboration Between Mishima Yukio and Photographer Hosoe Eikō"
12. Yukio Mishima, preface to Barakei (1963)
13. Scientific American: "How Roses Evolved to Become the Flower of Valentine's Day" (2026)
14. Nesreen Akhtarkhavari and Anthony A. Lee (trans.), Rumi's Love is My Savior - "A Dream" from Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi