Floral scent is a highly complex and variable floral characteristic that is involved in pollinator attraction. One possible cause for variation in floral scent can be sexual identity of the flower. Here, we examine the floral scent bouquet of a synchronously dichogamous shrub, Canella winterana (L.) Gaertn.We used dynamic headspace extraction and gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy, followed by statistical analysis using non-metric multidimensional scaling, SIMPER, MANOVA, and PERMANOVA to identify and compare the scent profiles of Canella winterana in its female and male phase for multiple individuals as well as multiple inflorescences of a single tree over one cycle of its entire sexual phase transition. The scent profile of C. winterana is composed of 49 volatile organic compounds and dominated by five compounds. We found no evidence for distinct male or female scent profiles; however, there were significant differences in scent emission between different sexes within some individuals. Two compounds explained over half of the variation between sexual stages within individuals. Our exploration of a single tree's sexual phase transition, including neuter phase, found that five compounds dominated the female phase scent bouquet and that female phase was distinct from male and neuter phase. This study offers new insight into the role that variability in floral scent between sexual phases might play in variable pollinator behavioral responses. These results suggest partial support for two distinct hypotheses regarding the differences between the sex phases (1) honest signaling and (2) sexual mimicry.

花香是传粉媒介吸引力中涉及的高度复杂和可变的花香特征。花香变化的一种可能原因可能是花朵的性别认同。在这里，我们检查了同步双歧灌木Canella winterana（L.）Gaertn的花香束。我们使用了动态顶空萃取和气相色谱-质谱法，然后使用非度量多维标度，SIMPER，MANOVA和PERMANOVA可识别和比较多株个人的Canella winterana在其雌性和雄性中的气味特征，以及在整个性相变的一个周期内一棵树的多个花序。C. winterana的气味特征由49种挥发性有机化合物组成，以5种化合物为主。我们没有发现明显的男性或女性气味特征的证据。然而，在某些个体中，不同性别之间的气味散发存在显着差异。两种化合物解释了个体内性阶段之间变异的一半以上。我们对一棵树的性相转变（包括中性期）的探索发现，五种化合物主导了雌性相的香气束，并且雌相不同于雄性和中性相。这项研究提供了新的见解，认为性相之间的花香差异可能在可变的授粉媒介行为反应中发挥作用。