Introduction to the Cymbidium Lianbanlan Yunxi Die (Taoyuan Die) Variety

    In 1996, when Zhang Xiongxiang was selecting wild-collected plants, he discarded an unremarkable little plant, which was retrieved by his family; after several years of cultivation, it unexpectedly bloomed as a standard three-star butterfly, and this is today's Yunxi Die. From then on, he no longer selected wild-collected plants one by one, but instead cultivated them in large quantities and selected only after they bloomed. He grew more and more wild-collected Cymbidium Lianbanlan, and his cultivation level became higher and higher; from them he also selected many orchids he liked, and the later "Hushan Yumei" that shocked the orchid world was the result of such "extensive planting with sparse harvesting."

    As soon as Yunxi Die bloomed, it amazed people, and successive blooms all maintained a stable flowering performance. Zhang Xiongxiang named it "Hushan Die." Later, after orchid masters such as Li Hongyin introduced and propagated it, it was named "Taoyuan Die." However, in the market it was often confused with the famous Sichuan Chunjian variety "Taoyuan Die" (Taoyuan Three Sworn Brothers), so Mr. Peng Yuanshun decided to rename it "Yunxi Die."

    Yunxi Die has the most typical curled leaves among Cymbidium Lianbanlan; the leaves grow hugging the pot and curl like permed hair, with leaf length 30-40 cm, a fine-leaf type; multi-flowered type, often bearing 3-5 flowers, blooming above the leaves, each flower identical, with the petal-like lips fully butterfly-transformed, making it the most stable three-star butterfly type among Cymbidium Lianbanlan; the flowers are large, the petals relatively long; under natural conditions, cultivation shows obvious emulsification but relatively small color. If appropriately shaded during flower development, the color patches become very obvious, very similar to another premium butterfly-flower variety, Yutu. The whole flower is graceful and elegantly upright, with extremely high ornamental value!

    In 2003, at the 13th China (Dali) Orchid Exposition, Yunxi Die won the gold award for the first time and was bought by the orchid world magnate Chen Shaomin at a high price of 200,000 yuan per plant; in 2005, at the Leshan Exposition, Yunxi Die won the gold award again, and thereafter became widely known in the orchid world.

    Yunxi Die has strong adaptability and strong disease resistance, and blooms stably again; among the three-star butterfly types circulating in Cymbidium Lianbanlan, it is the one with the fewest controversies. Its unique leaf shape and stable flowering performance make it a variety with a relatively high degree of commercialization, and it can be traded normally even when not in bloom, thus attracting increasing attention from the orchid world. As its numbers grow, its relatively reasonable price has gradually made it a traditional famous variety among Cymbidium Lianbanlan.