What does the ink orchid leaf sword orchid look like, and what are its characteristics?
The predecessor of "Black Diamond" was a mutation of the ink orchid divine chrysanthemum variety; in mainland China it is called "Leaf Sword", and in Taiwan, China it has now been renamed "Black Diamond". The characteristics of this orchid are that the leaf tips have a crystal water sweep, the leaf backs have a 'dark green transparent glass pattern', the pattern is stable, the flower form is chrysanthemum-petal type, and the flowers are fragrant.
Leaf Sword (Black Diamond) was selected and bred in the late 1980s to early 1990s by Mr. Huang Donggui of Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, from a large batch of wild-collected orchids from Guangxi. In the same clump of wild-collected orchids from which it was selected, one side had emerald-green radiating lines on both sides of the midrib, while the other side had no radiating lines. At that time, the orchid owner Mr. Huang Donggui sold the side with emerald-green radiating lines to Mr. Liu Zhengwen, an orchid enthusiast in Zhongshan City, and kept the side without emerald-green radiating lines for himself to cultivate. What now has emerald-green radiating lines is called: Leaf Sword (Black Diamond), and what does not have emerald-green radiating lines is called: Divine Chrysanthemum. The common points of these two groups of orchids are that the plant type and leaf type are similar, the leaf tips have a sweep, and the flower form is also about the same. The difference is that Leaf Sword (Black Diamond) has emerald-green radiating lines on both sides of the midrib, while Divine Chrysanthemum has no radiating lines on either side of the midrib.