A Detailed Explanation of Orchid Naming Rules and the Origins of Names

Text by Feng Rumei

Articles about orchid naming have been discussed many times by orchid friends in various orchid journals. Now, at a friend's request, I am asked to write a short piece on this subject, so I can only comply; consider it a superfluous addition!

A name is a symbol, just like a serial number. From Chen Mengliang and Pu Tongling to Song Mei and Wang Zi, various different symbols indicate the source and the owner, but names like Longyan Shibakai also describe the flower's opening form. By the time of Lan Hui Tong Xin Lu, however, a single term was used to name orchids, such as Yuepei, Lüyun, Cuichan, Diecui, and so on. This way of naming has continued in use to this day.

Obtaining a fine flower and giving it a beautiful name is the dream of every orchid grower. So after I obtained a pure-centered plum-petal orchid, I named it Zhizu, to express that having obtained this flower, my heart was already content. Later I obtained several more flowers. Although they had already been named by others, I thought the original names were not enough to show the flower's merits, so I also named flowers such as Wuqiu, Biyue, and Guanzhi. Later, when Mr. Chen Bo of Chongqing visited me and saw the names in my orchid book, he said I was too modest. But I feel modesty seems better than being showy.

I remember an orchid friend from Anhui once sent a photo and asked me to name it. It was a waved-petal, flat-shouldered narcissus-type orchid; the flower was acceptable, so I named it Hengbo. This flower has not been seen on the market since. Another orchid friend sent a photo asking for a name; it was also a narcissus-type orchid, an ordinary flower, except that the red spots on the tongue were large and vivid, so I named it after the ci tune pattern Dian Jiang Chun. This flower was likewise never seen afterward. Mr. Feng Lianyi of Xiaofeng once asked me to name a wild-collected Cymbidium faberi. In the photo the flower shape spread out freely, so I named it Zhanmei. This flower has not yet been established in cultivation.

In 2002, at the Yixing orchid exhibition, I saw Mr. Wu Jianeng display a red-sheath pure-centered Cymbidium faberi. Although it was neither a plum petal nor a narcissus petal, its petal shape was rather regular and its color was vivid and beautiful; on the green petals were extremely fine, bright red vein lines, set off by a pale green pure tongue, very delicate. I said this flower was good. Mr. Wu agreed to give it to me and joked that the price would not be high. Later, in the autumn of 2003, I exchanged three plants of Zhizu for three plants of this flower, and I named it Suyi Zhuxiu, after a line in the "Guofeng" section of the Book of Songs. I have kept and grown it until now, and it is still acceptable.

In the spring of 2003, Mr. Wu Jianeng drove to Huzhou to pick me up to go to Changzhou to see an orchid exhibition. On the way back I visited his home, and he gave me two photos of Suyi Zhuxiu (at that time the flowers had not yet been exchanged) and also two more photos of a green Cymbidium faberi narcissus-type orchid. He said, "I have many of this narcissus type; next time I will give you some." At the time, the green Cymbidium faberi narcissus in the photos also looked ordinary, with no major flaws and nothing outstanding. I did not pay much attention then. After returning home, I put the photos on the writing desk. Later, when I suddenly thought of the poem line about envying only mandarin ducks and not immortals, I wrote the three characters Buxianxian on the back of the photo as a name and wrote the date. Not long afterward, Mr. He Houyuan of Taiwan, China came to my home and saw this photo. He was moved by the flower name Buxianxian. He said the word "xian" was borrowed well and insisted on asking me for this flower. I could only tell him the truth. Later I heard that Mr. He went to Mr. Wu in Yixing to ask for Buxianxian. It was said the asking price was very high, and to this day the price is still not low. It was not until the spring of 2006 that Mr. Wu gave me two small plants of Buxianxian. That year they produced one new plant, and by autumn all three plants withered and died together. It seems I had no fate with this flower. I am not versed in business matters. Only then did I realize that a good flower name is also intellectual property and can increase in value considerably.

On the eve of the 2004 Wuxi orchid exhibition, Mr. Xu Hao brought five photos of Cymbidium faberi and said Mr. Wu Jianeng wanted me to name them and that I had to tell him by phone that evening, as they were to be sent to the exhibition the next day. I named them according to the flower shapes in the photos, including Jiayun, Cuizhuo, Yuyi, and so on. Among them, Jiayun has become a famous variety circulating at a high price.

I am an orchid lover and grower, and I do not seek profit from orchids. I do not know how to do commodity economics. All my life I have loved regular pure-centered flowers. But in recent years it is said that large orchid growers do not much like pure-centered flowers; they love big reds and purples, butterflies, multi-petal peony types. This is a difference in appreciation angle and cannot be faulted. For the same reason, in naming they also prefer auspicious words, using terms like wealth and glory, gold and brilliance. This is personal preference, beyond reproach, and I do not dare to comment rashly. But the facts are not entirely so. When I casually wrote the three characters Buxianxian, I created enormous wealth for someone. Therefore, when naming orchids, it is still better to be a little more natural, a little more elegant, and a little more distinctive.