A Brief Introduction to the Characteristics of the Cangshan Qidie Lianbanlan Variety

Cangshan Qidie is an extremely unusual variety among the butterfly-form flowers of Lianbanlan. In recent years its fame has spread far and wide, and it once became a hot spot in the market. At a time when strange flowers and butterfly flowers are in vogue, its ever-changing forms leave people with no choice but to marvel at the wonder of nature's handiwork!

Cangshan Qidie was discovered in the mid-1990s within Yunlong, Dali Prefecture. It is a fine-leaf-type Lianbanlan with an upright growth habit, 7-8 leaves, 0.5-0.7 cm wide and 30-45 cm long; under artificial cultivation it shows slight scorching at the leaf tips, which is a notable characteristic of this variety.

In 1996, at the 8th China Orchid Exposition, Mr. Li Yinglong of Bilong Orchid Garden brought this plant and won the gold award, and it was accordingly named "Bilong Die" and registered on February 12, 1998 as No. 061 Chinese Famous Orchid Variety. However, owing to the plant's own characteristics, it presents a different butterfly-form every year when it blooms, leading people to mistake different butterfly forms for different varieties. On May 6 of the same year, the well-known orchid artist Mr. Shi Chunyao named this variety "Cangshan Qidie" and registered it as No. 063 Chinese Famous Orchid Variety. A single variety being registered twice in succession was a first in China's orchid world, and its unique characteristics even led the authoritative experts to misjudge it.

In 2001, the Yunnan orchid market rose all the way, and Cangshan Qidie, with its obvious butterfly transformation, brilliant colors, strong contrast, ease of flowering and high rate of shoot production, was sought after by many orchid enthusiasts; its price soared, with the highest transaction price exceeding 100,000 yuan, making it a "blue-chip stock" in the orchid market. But because of the great variability of its blooms, people often found themselves at a loss, and different growers gave it different names; more than a dozen names appeared one after another, including "Bilong Die", "Cangshan Qidie", "Xiaotian Bao", "Diancang Mudan", "Sanxing Die", "Wangtian Die" and "Jiuding Qidie".

At the 2002 Dali Prefecture Spring Orchid Show, two pots of "Cangshan Qidie" simultaneously won over the judges and shared the gold award; subsequently, at the 2nd Yunnan Provincial Orchid Show, it once again took the pure gold award. Its reputation rose rapidly for a time, attracting the attention of more orchid enthusiasts. At the Pengzhou Orchid Show, Cangshan Qidie won an award again, and with its unique blooms it drew everyone's attention. Orchid enthusiasts in Sichuan began to introduce this variety, and thereafter it was widely exchanged between Sichuan and Yunnan.

Among orchids, Cangshan Qidie is a very special butterfly flower: it changes every year, is a butterfly every year, is strange every year, and yet the manner of its butterfly transformation differs each time. Because of the uncertainty of its variation, it has produced dozens of different forms over the years. Within a single pot, the flowers on each scape differ, and even several flowers on the same scape display different forms; yet no matter what, it always produces brilliant butterfly flowers. Sometimes it produces a complete Sanxing Die, sometimes the entire main petal is completely transformed into a butterfly form, sometimes it produces a Sixing Die, and at most it produces a peony-type petal with seven flower tongues. Because of the uncertainty of its changes, it brings orchid growers a surprise again and again, and its floral appreciation is deeply satisfying.

After many years of observation, the orchid world has gradually come to agree that Cangshan Qidie is the same in origin and species, and that its various different mutant forms are due to its own characteristics. It can be put this way: change is where the charm of Cangshan Qidie lies, and eternal strangeness is the very source of its life! It is truly a "Thousand-Faced Guanyin".