A brief introduction to the basic characteristics of the Jianlan (Cymbidium ensifolium) variety Yuemei

Yuemei was originally called "Hemei" as a newly collected wild variety. In the summer of 2002, at the home of a Peng surnamed orchid enthusiast in Chencun, Shunde, I first saw her beauty: two shoots of mountain grass still carrying wildness, with one scape bearing seven flowers, the flower shape huge and neat, and with the outer petals short and round, its bearing was no less than the famous Sijilan variety Junhe. Unfortunately, this pot of orchid had already been bought at a high price by an orchid dealer. Fortunately, the Peng surnamed enthusiast, seeing how infatuated I was with this variety, transferred to me all the remaining three weaker shoots. Later I heard that the original owner of this variety still had a few shoots, but was unwilling to part with them. Based on observation and study of this grass, I concluded that this orchid was a Guangdong grass, so I began more than a year of arduous searching, and finally sorted out the thread: Yuemei was selected and bred from the Sansongshan wild orchid farm in Conghua, Guangzhou; the front shoots were sold to a Chen surnamed orchid enthusiast in Xinfeng County, and the back shoots were sold to a Liu surnamed orchid enthusiast in Zhuliao Town, Guangzhou. After two transactions, the Chen surnamed enthusiast, except for keeping a few weak grasses as seed, transferred all the rest to me; while the Liu surnamed enthusiast had only three weak grasses planted half-dead, and although a high price was offered, he did not intend to sell. By the spring of 2005, I found the Chen surnamed enthusiast again. After two years, thirteen heads had been grown. When asked the price, it was three thousand yuan per leaf. Thus for the first time I heard of counting leaves to calculate orchid prices. Considering that the orchid shoots were really too weak, I gave up the third transaction. By that summer, this batch of orchid shoots was purchased by a Shunde orchid dealer and resold and dispersed to some large orchid growers and collectors. The two shoots with flowers mentioned earlier were later learned to have been resold to the large Chaozhou orchid grower Chen Youqiang, and in the summer of 2005 were again sold at a high price and dispersed to some large orchid growers and collectors, leaving only one old stump as seed.

Because this variety and Xinfeng Mei are both Guangdong grasses, with similar grass type, they are very easily confused. Xueya Orchid Garden therefore named her "Yuemei"; "Yue" and "Yue" (Guangdong) are homophones, meaning a good plum-petal variety produced in Guangdong; in addition, "Yue" carries the meaning of the flower being "pleasing to the eye and delightful to the heart," and also describes the joyful mood at the time of obtaining this flower. Yuemei's first public appearance was at the summer 2006 Zhongshan autumn orchid exhibition, where it caused a sensation and won the gold award in one stroke. Its ornamental value was highly recognized by the broad masses of orchid enthusiasts. A few large orchid growers also invested relatively more funds in selecting and breeding this variety, but because the stock was not large, it could not meet the requirements of market operation, and moreover the photographs of this flower were far inferior to the real thing, so owners all wished only to cultivate it quietly. In response to answers to questions from a few orchid enthusiasts about this variety, and also to let the broad masses of orchid enthusiasts have a detailed understanding of Yuemei, Xueya Orchid Garden, as the namer of this variety, hopes to fulfill this responsibility.