What do old orchid varieties, new varieties, original species, re-imported varieties, and tissue-cultured seedlings mean?

Author: Baomuzhaizhu

First, it is something we often see: sellers add the two words "old variety" before the variety name.

It should be pointed out here that this is a huge deception.

The so-called "old variety" has, as parallel terms, "new old variety," "new variety," or "newly collected flower."

"Old variety" is not a word describing origin; it indicates the era when this variety was produced.

Generally speaking, "old variety" refers to orchids collected before the founding of New China. This is the strict standard.

As for the concept of "new old variety," it is rather vague and can be defined as orchids collected within fifty years of the founding of New China (including the fiftieth anniversary). It may be appropriately relaxed by about five years.

The so-called "new variety" means a new flower collected within about five years.

It should be specially pointed out that "old variety" is not equal to "original species." These two words belong to completely different categories. So do not be deceived. Therefore, "original species," "re-imported variety," "tissue-cultured variety," and "technological variety" are all terms about the source of the plant and about propagation and cultivation. They have nothing to do with era.

So the so-called "original species" means what is now called a plant that, from the time it was collected until it reached orchid growers' hands, has never left the country, nor have any of its ancestors. Of course, the stock is also very small, so please do not be superstitious or get cheated.

Next, "re-imported variety." In fact, this term appeared relatively early, so following the definition customary at that time, re-imported orchids are domestic "original species" sold to Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and other places, where they are rapidly propagated and then sold back to mainland China. Among re-imported orchids, there are also classifications by grade; basically there are first-grade seedlings, second-grade seedlings, and third-grade seedlings. The higher the grade, the better the plant quality and the stronger the seedlings. Generally, third grade means inferior plants. Of course, many good plants on the market now are old potted clumps that have been re-imported for many years, with strong plants, beautiful flowers, and easy cultivation.

Now "tissue-cultured seedlings." Actually this is easy to understand: plants produced by tissue culture, comparable to so-called cloning. Usually the plant's root tips are used. (For specific technical questions, you can consult moderator Moon_voyager.) Such plants, after many years of cultivation and observation, still differ relatively greatly from plants produced as "original" or "re-imported." This applies to the plant's posture, flower quality, and so on. Take Luyun as an example: tissue-cultured Luyun has short plants, a large slant, and highly twisted leaf posture, even forming a spiral shape. The flower color is emerald green, the bud sheath color is light, and the petals are thin. It is unstable. But it also has advantages. For example, variant types of Luyun, such as Luyunxue, after being hardened for many years, sprout well and also bloom quite well. They are different from tissue-cultured green-leaf Luyun stock. Another example is the tissue-cultured Dafugui and similar plants from earlier years: the leaf posture is short and plump, thick and sturdy, lacking the elegance of Chunlan. In other words, it has no spirit. Hehe, this is getting mystical. Stop here.

It should be pointed out here that, in my personal view, "re-imported" and "tissue-cultured" are two parallel concepts. It is not convenient to understand "re-imported" as also including "tissue-cultured," because this easily causes conceptual confusion and makes it easy to fish in troubled waters.

Next, "technological variety." I personally define "technological variety" as orchid offspring produced through hybridization. In other words, it is more accurate to call it "hybrid variety." That is, seedlings produced from seed after crossing different male and female parents. Of course, these are also seedling-grown plants, different from "tissue culture." Here a little of the concept of Clivia breeding methods needs to be included. In fact, as the saying goes, a dragon bears nine sons, each with its own preferences. They are all different. The orchid hybrid offspring now obtained are propagated as soon as they come out and then directly bought into the market without selection and breeding. For example, Datunyuan has as many as seven lines of plants; that is, the offspring of just one cross of Dafugui with Huanqiu (I remember it was Huanqiu) show different traits. So this has given everyone a poor impression of hybridization. However, if after hybridization the plants are selected for their essence and discard the dross, and then backcrossed to stabilize the genes, fine products can absolutely be produced. I personally have a quite beautiful fine hybrid Chunlan Meimen product; when I saw its flower at the time, my eyes lit up. So here it is pointed out that "technological variety" is used in a narrow sense; do not confuse it with "tissue-cultured variety." This prevents merchants from having an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

Let me stop here for now. Guidance is welcome.

PS: Actually, it is because I cannot stand many orchid peddlers and orchid merchants selling old potted clumps that have been re-imported for many years under the name of "old variety." It is not that the plants are bad; on the contrary, many plants are very beautiful and sturdy. It is just that "deceiving the world and stealing a name" (a bit overstated) is also hard to tolerate. There is also the fact that quite a few use the concept of "old variety" to pass plants off as "original species" and sell them at high prices. That is not good. But then again, perhaps they themselves have never seen what original plants look like, and the people who sold to them just told them so? Hehe. So do not care about so-called original plants; plants re-imported for many years are equally quite beautiful. Especially Luyun!!! The so-called "old variety Luyun" sold now, whether or not it means "original species Luyun," is all Luyun from old potted clumps re-imported for many years!!! Absolutely do not be fooled.