Qinghe Mei Chunlan
Qinghe Mei: A famous plum-petal flower discovered by a flower servant of the Zhang family of Hangzhou in Tongwu. Three petals short and round, half-hard guixin (pistil), small ruyi tongue, flat shoulders, sometimes also flying shoulders, pale green, tongue spots and flower stem red, flower stalk also tall, sometimes reaching seven or eight cun. Medium-fine semi-erect leaf habit, seven or eight cun long, somewhat similar to Jiyuan, among the fine leaves are also mixed...
Qinghe Mei: A famous plum-petal flower discovered by a flower servant of the Zhang family of Hangzhou in Tongwu.
Three petals short and round, half-hard guixin, small ruyi tongue, flat shoulders, sometimes also flying shoulders, pale green, tongue spots and flower stem red, flower stalk also tall, sometimes reaching seven or eight cun. Medium-fine semi-erect leaf habit, seven or eight cun long, somewhat similar to Jiyuan, among the fine leaves are also mixed broad leaves.
"Qinghe Mei" was first recorded in "A Brief History of Orchids": "Obtained by a flower servant surnamed Zhang of Liuxia in Tongwu. Three petals short and round, separated gui with half-hard guixin, small ruyi tongue, flying shoulders. Color pale green, stalk seven or eight cun, recently belongs to Jiufeng Pavilion." "Lahua Pu" also records this variety. "Shaoxing Orchid Culture" has only one sentence: "Plum petal, flower color pale green, flying shoulders." The 1999 publication "Three Hundred Questions on Chinese Orchid Art" believed that "this variety no longer exists in China, Japan has this variety." In fact, by the late 1990s it had already been reintroduced into China, and was already circulating on the market, with seedling prices not exceeding one hundred yuan. From its appearance to going to Japan and later being reintroduced into China, "Qinghe Mei" has never attracted widespread attention from the Chinese and Japanese orchid circles, and the current situation has not improved much. Modern great orchid growers in China such as Zhu Youren, Shen Yuanru, and Wang Shuping have no records of cultivating this variety. In recent years many orchid enthusiasts have successively introduced it, and I think the main consideration is that it is one of the old plum-petal varieties, and secondly for its flying shoulders. In fact, the most typical representative of flying shoulders among old varieties should be the plum-type narcissus "Donglai," but unfortunately "Donglai" is even more lost. According to records, "Qinghe Mei" mostly opens flat-shouldered flowers, occasionally flying shoulders. This flower was discovered in the early years of the Republic of China, collected by a flower worker surnamed Zhang of Hangzhou in Tongwu, and later cultivated by Wu Enyuan. Leaf posture slanting erect, edge leaves slightly drooping, leaf length about 20cm, width 0.6--0.7cm, leaf quality thin, with leaf grooves, leaf tips slender and pointed. Flower stem red, stalk length 15cm or slightly taller, red spots on the tongue bright, flower pale green. This variety's current price is indeed not high; if introducing, one can introduce from reputable orchid farms, and must not reach out to wandering orchid vendors, to avoid being cheated.
