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Renhuabai soft-sword small melon-seed, large melon-seed, twisted-sword, and upright-sword varieties are all available.

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Renhuabai is simply a collective term for the sum-sin orchids (pure-hearted orchids) collected in the wild in Renhua County, Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province. It is famous for its fragrance and leaf shape. Renhuabai grown in half shade and half sun produces the best leaf form! The leaves of Renhuabai differ from those of other Jianlan (Cymbidium ensifolium) orchids: the leaf substance is thick, glutinous and smooth, lustrous as jade, the leaf color is emerald green with a subtle sheen, and the leaf base is tightly contracted and held high...
Renhuabai is simply a collective term for the sum-sin orchids collected in the wild in Renhua County, Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province. It is famous for its fragrance and leaf shape. Renhuabai grown in half shade and half sun produces the best leaf form!The leaves of Renhuabai differ from those of other Jianlan orchids: the leaf substance is thick, glutinous and smooth, lustrous as jade, the leaf color is emerald green with a subtle sheen, and the leaf base is tightly contracted and held high in the shape of an incense stick.

Renhuabai orchid has stood in the world for several hundred years on the strength of its "three excellences": its leaves are lustrous, its flowers always rise above the foliage, and it is delicately fragrant. Volume 11, Products, of the Gazetteer of Shaozhou Prefecture, revised during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, records: "Bailan is produced in Renhua, and is called Renhuabai; its color is pure and its fragrance is pure, differing from other orchids." And Sun Yimin's Gazetteer of Danxia Mountain from the Republic of China period states: "Bailan is produced on the peaks of Zhanglao and Hailuo; its flowers are pure white. Every autumn, its fragrant air clings to one's garments." This shows that Renhuabai orchid was cherished by numerous men of letters and refined scholars as early as several hundred years ago.

Many types have been separated out from Renhuabai orchid, such as the well-known soft-sword Renhuabai (small melon-seed), large melon-seed, twisted-sword Renhuabai, upright-sword Renhuabai, and so on. Comparing them overall, the soft-sword certainly ranks first, and the large melon-seed is also good, but the most fragrant is the upright-sword Bai, and the more it blooms the more fragrant it becomes, and the older it gets the mellow it becomes! These are recorded in Linghai Lanyan, but among flower grades only the large melon-seed is considered superior; the other flower forms are slightly inferior, and it is only in leaf shape, leaf substance and fragrance that they excel! In recent years, there have also been quite a few sum-sin orchids collected in the wild in Renhua and nearby areas, among which there is no lack of fine specimens. Specifically, sum-sin orchids from the Renhua area have the same substance as the earlier Renhuabai, and are also Renhuabai. But sum-sin orchids collected in the wild in more distant mountainous areas have changed leaf substance and form, and can hardly be called Renhuabai!

Renhuabai is produced in the Fuxi and Danxi areas of Renhua County, Guangdong Province. It is named Renhuabai after the county of origin plus its flower color, which is as pure as jade and as oily and lustrous as a melon-seed kernel; it is commonly known as melon-seed Bai or melon-seed flesh. According to the Qing Dynasty work Linghai Lanyan by Ou Jince, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, he greatly appreciated this variety and described in detail its leaf form and flower characteristics. Its fragrance is intense, and its upright leaves are majestic. What is even more precious is that among sum-sin Jianlan orchids a single-shoulder (one-character) form is almost nonexistent, yet every flower of this pot is flat-shouldered, giving a feeling of heightened spirits.
Slender-boned and light-bodied, a hundred strands of crimson pearls; the orchid is like a beauty, the delicate and slender one is lovely. That beauty is inconstant; a golden house may hide her, but if she meets no kindred spirit, she stays fragrant in the secluded valley.
Now Renhuabai possesses four beauties: pure flowers, elegant leaves, easy cultivation, and low price. Are there clear-eyed people in the world who share this passion for calamus?-- Linghai Lanyan

One, large melon-seed: elegant leaf posture, rich floral fragrance; regrettably the flowers only rise to foliage level and cannot stand head and shoulders above the rest. It has the best flower form among Renhuabai.
Broad-leaf Renhua melon-seed Bai(commonly known as Renhua large melon-seed Bai) -- robust plant type, dark green leaves that are slightly broad and strong, arching in the middle and glossy, leaf tips like a toad's mouth, leaf margins with fairly obvious fine serrations, about 30 cm long, leaf width 1.2-2 cm, 3-5 leaves growing in a clump, the flower has a narrow base, and it is named for resembling an inverted melon-seed; the flower is milky white, the three outer sepals are milky white with a slight green tinge, and the rolled petals and lip are snow white. The flowers rise above the foliage, with a strong fragrance.


Two,Soft-sword Renhuabai: (commonly known as Youdong Bai) (small melon-seed) has a beautiful leaf shape and blooms and multiplies easily -- "Renhuabai is known throughout the world, and this type is regarded as the finest; its leaf substance is soft and smooth, seemingly above the broad-sword type, though slightly inferior to the melon-seed petal, yet the two are rivals in excellence." (excerpted from the Qing Dynasty Lingnan Lanyan) The flower form of this orchid is second only to the Renhua large melon-seed; its leaf posture and leaf substance are the finest among all Bai orchids, and it can be considered outstanding among Bai orchids. Its leaves are over thirty cm long, 1-2 cm wide, dark green and glossy, with leaf tips abruptly tapering to a point, and leaf margins entire. When in bloom each scape bears about 6 flowers; a strong plant's flower diameter is about 5 cm; the flower color is milky white, rising above the foliage with a strong fragrance, and the flower has peach-colored cheeks. After the flowers fully open, each flower from bottom to top has a black bead-like body on its column (hence it is also called black pearl). It is the variety with the most beautiful leaf posture, rich floral fragrance, and flowers held above the foliage. Its shortcoming is that the flower color is not white or bright enough. Overall (beautiful leaf shape and easy to rise above the foliage) it is the best among Renhuabai. Soft-sword Renhuabai is also called black pearl, dragon-spitting pearl, or small melon-seed. This variety blooms and sprouts easily, and stands out for its leaf substance and floral fragrance.


Three, broad-leaf Renhua large-flower sum(commonly known as Zhude Su) -- In 1962, Chairman Zhu De sent two guards together with a flower engineer from what was then Shaoguan Park to Renhua to look for orchids, and they found at the home of a village committee secretary in Fuxi Town, Renhua County, a large lotus sum that had been passed down in his family for several generations, more than ten plants, hence the name. This orchid has a robust plant type, dark green leaves, leaf length thirty to forty cm, width 1.2-2 cm, semi-upright. The leaf tips are round and blunt, the leaf margins have inconspicuous fine serrations, and the leaf substance has a strong fleshy feel, being soft, smooth, fine and glutinous and rich in luster. The flowers are large, nearly twice the size of an ordinary large lotus sum, with a strong fragrance and a long flowering period; its flowers can be seen from June to November. This orchid is valued for both flower and leaf, and is a rare fine variety.


Four, twisted-sword Renhuabai: the flowers are flat with the foliage, and if well grown they should be able to rise above it. The leaf posture is flowing and elegant, with slightly twisted tips, suitable for growing in a large pot for appreciation, with a rich floral fragrance. "Renhuabai is distinguished for its quiet elegance. This one, however, has soft, thick substance, in which the extraordinary and the ordinary give rise to each other; it is broadly similar to many-flowered sum orchids, and is a variation within the Renhua types." (excerpted from the Qing Dynasty Linghai Lanyan). This orchid's leaves are thirty to forty cm long, 0.8-1.5 cm wide, green with a slight yellow tinge, with inconspicuous fine serrations on the margins and glossy; the petals are bamboo-leaf petals, tender green, and the flowers rise above the foliage with a strong fragrance.


Five, upright-sword Renhuabai: Renhua broad-leaf upright-sword Bai,its leaf color and leaf character are both first-rate, with length and size just right; leaf length thirty to forty cm, leaf width 1.2-1.8 cm, leaf margins with inconspicuous serrations, leaves thick and glossy, with the momentum of pointing straight at the blue sky. This flower is a lotus petal, rising above the foliage, with a strong fragrance.Its leaves are like long swords; though tall and large, and the (flower) scapes are tall and the flowers large, though they do not rise above the foliage, it is still heroic and commanding, a great man among Renhuabai. Its fragrance is initially light, but the more it blooms the better it gets, with a feeling of growing firmer with age.

How to identify Renhuabai:

1. Leaf base: the base is narrowly contracted, especially obvious in the small-leaf type, forming an incense-stick stem shape, that is, the leaf base groove is narrow. The large-leaf and fine-leaf types spoken of in Linghai Lanyan are distinguished precisely by the leaf base. All Renhuabai seen are of the fine-leaf type.

2. Leaf substance and leaf type: generally soft and smooth; the leaf substance of Renhuabai is either soft within hard or hard within soft, and no soft, sprawling type of leaf lying on the pot surface has been seen. The leaves are mostly the lustrous green rarely seen in other types, occasionally light green. The leaf substance is fleshy and thick, fine to the touch, with sinews and bones not exposed.

3. Flower: commonly white with a green tinge, especially obvious at the petal tips; of course there are also pure white ones, but they must be compared with the other items.

4. Leaf sheaths: mostly tight sheaths, with many layers, the sheaths tall and upright. Tight sheaths mean a strong floral fragrance; many, tall and upright sheaths mean tall flowers and fragrance. Jianlan orchids of the loose-sheath (false-sheath) type mostly have a light floral scent; by looking at the sheaths one can roughly know the flower.

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