What is Cymbidium kanran? Let us introduce you to this orchid

I. On the shift and convergence of aesthetic concepts regarding Cymbidium kanran

  In the early days of domestic development and cultivation of Cymbidium kanran, and even for a long period until recent years, orchid enthusiasts still focused their selection and breeding of kanran flowers mainly on petal-type flowers (the so-called soft and hard column types of kanran), exotic butterfly flowers (exotic flowers and butterfly flowers), and solid-color flowers. This approach to flower selection undoubtedly borrowed from the traditional breeding methods for other orchid species such as Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium faberi, but for Cymbidium kanran it has significant limitations. Therefore, in the early days of kanran breeding, many kanran enthusiasts in various regions suffered losses due to overlooking certain varieties, and this was also a loss to the kanran community. In the early days, many enthusiasts who entered the kanran world, precisely because their concepts of kanran selection and breeding (appreciation) were vague, often picked up sesame seeds while losing watermelons. There were once many kanran hard-column, exotic, and butterfly flowers priced at tens of thousands per seedling that now hardly anyone inquires about. This phenomenon tells us that rarity does not necessarily represent beauty. The principle that things are precious for being rare, for things with artistic connotation, first requires aesthetic appeal before it can have value. Of course, there have also appeared in kanran many plum fairy and exotic and butterfly flowers with proper form and harmonious color combinations, and these have consistently been sought after by kanran enthusiasts.

  As the ranks of kanran growers continue to grow and kanran-growing experience continues to mature, enthusiasts' appreciation level for kanran has greatly improved and made breakthroughs. Especially after Fujian orchid enthusiast Mr. Yang Dahua proposed the theory of "Form and Meaning Aesthetics of Cymbidium kanran," many enthusiasts' eyes were opened. It turns out the beauty of kanran lies in her posture, and in the artistic conception expressed by the interplay of kanran flowers and leaves. This is the unique charm beauty of kanran among Chinese orchids: slender and tall flower scapes standing proudly aloft, sparsely spaced inflorescences arranged in pleasing disorder, narrow and outstretched petals dancing with the wind - these paired with kanran's elegant and graceful leaf posture in wonderful harmony, everything appears so natural, ethereal, and free. Appreciating kanran is like appreciating a landscape painting with profound artistic conception, and a feeling of transcendence arises spontaneously; appreciating kanran, one feels the perfect fusion of humanity and nature, which is humanity's oldest and most eternal pursuit.

  In selecting and breeding kanran, one must first consider the overall charm and elegance of the flowers and leaves, and only then examine the characteristics of individual flowers. Those with good individual flower characteristics can generally be selected; those with outstanding individual flower characteristics and many appreciation points can be listed as superior grade. Conversely, no matter how good the individual flower characteristics are, if the overall charm is completely lacking in image, such flowers can only be played with casually and ultimately cannot enter the hall of elegance.

II. On the varieties of Cymbidium kanran at the present stage

  Looking broadly at the kanran flower and leaf varieties on Zhongjiaowang and my own usual approach to kanran selection and breeding, kanran can be roughly divided into the following categories:

  Plum fairy type: Although kanran has no standard plum fairy, by inheriting and borrowing traditional petal-type standards, proper-form flowers with plum fairy characteristics can also be selected and bred from kanran. Varieties of this type with proper flower form and eye-catching colors are usually the best among kanran plum fairy types. Currently, kanran soft and hard column types appear more frequently in large-leaf kanran, and through the unremitting efforts of enthusiasts everywhere, quite a few excellent horticultural varieties have been bred.

  Lotus type: Although lotus-type flowers have appeared, those meeting lotus-type standards are extremely few. In my opinion, a good lotus-type flower must at least have the basic conditions of narrowed base and flared corners, rather than simply having short and wide petals. Among this type of flower, excellent ones are still few at present.

  Butterfly flower type: There are quite a few butterfly flowers in kanran, but excluding those with poor color contrast and the many scissor butterflies and horse-step butterflies among side-petal butterflies, truly good butterfly flowers are extremely rare. Given the particularity of kanran petals (slender and long), kanran side-petal butterflies rarely have good appearance, and the flowers typically open as so-called scissor butterflies and horse-step butterflies. Therefore, kanran butterfly flowers are mainly proper in inner-column butterflies and three-star butterflies. Currently, truly good side-petal butterflies and stamen butterflies are still few.

  Exotic flower type: This category includes various multi-petal, multi-lip, few-petal, and atavistic exotic flowers. Few-petal flowers rarely produce popular varieties; atavistic flowers are basically fixed in form (usually meaning the lip petal transforms into a column petal, forming outer three petals and inner three columns). For multi-petal multi-lip exotic flowers, if the number of petals increases only by a very small amount, the whole flower appears somewhat thin and lacks layering. Currently, multi-petal multi-lip exotic flowers in kanran are also few in number, and those of high grade are extremely rare. (Single-flower exotics and terminal-flower exotics often appear in kanran; such flowers, plainly speaking, are a once-in-a-thousand-years phenomenon.)

  Solid-color flower type: In kanran there are white solid, red solid, yellow solid, green solid, etc., among which green solid is the most numerous. The solid-color flowers of large-leaf kanran are mainly green-flower green-moss solid, with a small number of colored-flower solid (mainly purple-flower solid) appearing. Kanran enthusiasts have always paid more attention to the selection and breeding of fine-leaf kanran solid flowers; fine-leaf solid flowers look more refreshing, elegant, and have good charm. Fine-leaf solid flowers have already occupied a considerable proportion among fine-leaf kanran, and quite a few excellent good varieties have been bred.

  Colored flower type: The rich and colorful flower colors are a major feature of kanran, almost surpassing all Chinese orchids, and the colorful and varied nature of kanran colored flowers is especially pronounced in large-leaf varieties. Except for pure black flowers and blue flowers, which have not appeared, basically all flower colors can be found in kanran. But colored flowers are also a variable strain; like colored flowers of other Chinese orchids, kanran's flower colors are also changeable, and most kanran colored flowers do not bloom with consistent colors every year. Judging from the current large-scale kanran cultivation farms across the country, it is not easy for a single orchid farm to select and breed one or several kanran colored flowers with stable color (of course, referring to high-grade varieties). A colored flower with beautiful charm, proper appearance, and brilliant or soft and stable color is always the signature famous variety among kanran.

  Tongue flower type: This type can be subdivided into red tongue flowers, round tongue flowers, pouch tongue flowers, pictographic tongue flowers, exotic tongue flowers, and many others. The myriad forms of the lip petal and the varied and colorful lip markings are another major feature of kanran. A good kanran flower lip should have a regular lip shape; enthusiasts generally prefer pouch tongues and large round tongues; the lip petal should not curl or curl only slightly; the lip petal's base color should be pure and the color markings obvious and neat, with sharp contrast between the lip petal and its base color. Judging from the varieties selected so far in kanran, tongue flower types have the most varieties, including many excellent all-red tongues, red-marked tongues, black-marked tongues, large round tongues, large pouch tongues, and so on, with good appearance and good color.

  Leaf-art flower-art type: For this category, looking at flower art and leaf art separately, quite a few excellent varieties have appeared; those achieving perfect combination of both are extremely rare. But leaf-art plants are usually not easy to grow, and even less easy to bloom; however, more excellent varieties will certainly appear in the future.

III. On the collection and speculation of Cymbidium kanran

  As an emerging orchid species, kanran has a short cultivation history; the kanran varieties currently selected and bred and that have made appearances are limited, and quite a few varieties still await market testing. Add to this that kanran is relatively difficult to grow and propagate slowly, and up to now, kanran is the only orchid species that has not been speculated upon. The quantities of many excellent varieties are still extremely small, even in the hands of the breeder amounting to just one group or a single seedling. This naturally determines that kanran at the present stage is primarily a seller's market. In the kanran world, as soon as word gets out that some orchid garden has produced a good variety, people from all sides scramble to buy it, using all kinds of methods and channels, with only one goal: to acquire it or get a share. In such circumstances, the flower owner is usually put in a difficult position; for those with good relationships, he may reluctantly spare a seedling or half a plant, and for those without, he can only half-heartedly and politely decline. Of course, this type of flower is certainly a variety of relatively high collection grade.

  As aesthetic concepts regarding kanran gradually mature (converge), the prices of some kanran varieties are also gradually adjusting; some continue to decline, while others steadily rise. Varieties whose prices decline are products of the aesthetic misconceptions in the early period of kanran development; varieties whose prices rise have withstood market testing and have been recognized by most orchid enthusiasts. These are all manifestations of the market moving toward maturity, a process every new thing must go through; where there are achievements, there must be sacrifices. So among the earliest enthusiasts who invested in kanran, some suffered losses precisely because they entered aesthetic misconceptions. Regarding the price rises of this minority or portion of kanran varieties, I believe this is not speculation but a manifestation of the gradual and increasingly perfect integration of kanran with the market. This only shows that the kanran market is steadily developing and maturing, and that the number of enthusiasts who like kanran is gradually increasing. In kanran there are no or extremely few sky-high-priced orchids, and even high-priced orchids are very few, and kanran enthusiasts' posts and replies rarely mention kanran price issues; these are enough to prove that kanran has not the slightest bit of speculation. In fact, judging from kanran's natural seedling production rate and the total quantity of kanran varieties, the conditions for speculation are still far from being met at the present stage. Purchases and exchanges among enthusiasts are merely collecting, or rather introducing stock. This phenomenon will continue for some time in the near future; varietal kanran entering the market as a commodity still awaits its time. Likewise, kanran is still far from speculation.

  -- Because we like it, we promote it...

  -- Stay away from speculation, let kanran develop healthily and orderly...

  Among kanran, the currently more popular varieties include:

  Top collection grade: proper-form three-star butterflies, stamen butterflies, side-petal butterflies with neat form, etc. Proper-form plum fairies, highly consistent and aesthetically pleasing floating-gate hard columns, etc. Proper-form lotus types with good flower retention, multi-petal multi-lip exotic flowers, top-grade flower-leaf double-art varieties, and so on.

  Superior collection grade: proper-form large round tongue solid flowers, beautiful colored-flower solids, proper-form large round tongues (with beautiful and neat color markings on the lip), superior colored flowers, compound-color flowers, etc.

  General varieties: This category has many varieties, including lower-grade varieties among the above types, such as ordinary plum, lotus, fairy, butterfly, and exotic flowers, ordinary tongue flowers, solid flowers, colored flowers, leaf art, form art, and so on.

  Each collector or investor can, according to their own means and preferences, choose varieties they like for collection and appreciation. It can be the "three palaces and six courtyards" style (collecting some of each type), or the devoted-to-one style (for example, some enthusiasts prefer solid flowers, some prefer colored flowers, some prefer tongue flowers, some prefer leaf art, etc.).

IV. On the development and protection of wild Cymbidium kanran resources

  This is a very big topic, and also a long-standing topic in the orchid world. Below, based on some of my own experiences, I will discuss the contradictions and intrinsically necessary connections between the development and protection of wild orchid resources.

  I first truly came into contact with orchids in 2004. Starting from March of that year (after Spring Festival), all the way to the end of 2006, whenever I had time and the weather was suitable, I would go up the mountains to collect orchids. Our county is a main production area for large-leaf kanran. Besides kanran collected from the mountains by local enthusiasts, quite a lot of wild kanran was also purchased by enthusiasts from elsewhere, with the most going to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces. By 2006 and 2007, relying on my own mountain visits, I basically could no longer find kanran. So starting from 2007, I also began purchasing wild orchids (mainly kanran). In the process of purchasing wild kanran, I visited quite a few places in Jiangxi (including various townships in our county and parts of neighboring counties), including the Dagangshan area in Fenyi, the Yantian, Hukeng, and Zhangzhuang areas in Anfu, and I also went to Lianhua in Pingxiang, Xiajiang County in Ji'an, Gan County in Ganzhou, and other places. I traveled around these places for about two months, but the wild kanran I could purchase amounted to no more than one thousand-plus jin. In many places, the information I got was that the local wild kanran had long since been purchased by others.

  All along, almost whenever an area (or mountain) with wild kanran growing was discovered, before long the plants would be gone and the mountain empty. This shows that enthusiasts' love for kanran surpasses that for other Chinese orchid species, but it also shows that wild kanran resources are shrinking drastically, even more so than other orchid species.

  Having said all this, what I want to say is:

  Whether enthusiasts are from orchid-producing areas or non-producing areas, if they want to grow orchids or invest in purchasing wild-collected plants, who can stop them or is able to stop them?

  When farmers in orchid-producing areas go up the mountains to collect orchids to add a bit of income to their households (in their eyes, orchids are just wild grass or ordinary medicinal herbs), earning a bit of hard-earned money, who can stop them or is able to stop them?

  When forestry units or mountain villagers want to plant trees and reforest, burning patches of wild orchids to death, who has gone to stop them or is able to stop them?

  Having said this much again, what I also want to say is:

  If Song Mei had not been discovered several hundred years ago, but instead were discovered today, several hundred years later, would its numbers be at most just a tiny handful? Enthusiasts in orchid-producing areas who frequently go up the mountains to collect orchids know very well that a single wild orchid plant cannot develop without limit on the mountain - that is, this orchid plant cannot grow to hundreds or thousands of seedlings, and over such a long time there is also the possibility of death. Of course, some enthusiasts will say: perhaps this Song Mei would reproduce through its seeds, and wouldn't little Song Meis have covered the mountains and fields over several hundred years? Who has ever seen, and in which orchid-producing area has there ever appeared, the same good variety covering the mountains and fields? It is extremely rare for the same area or mountain to produce two plants of the same variety. Yet today's Song Mei can almost be said to have entered thousands of households.

  So protecting resources is not just about paying lip service and shouting about protecting so-called wild orchids still deep in the mountains that we can neither touch nor see. Growing well and keeping alive every plant already brought down from the mountains and in our own hands, every variety, letting them reproduce and develop, and enabling more people to fall in love with orchids and grow orchids - I think this is the greatest utilization and protection of resources.

V. On the hybridization and tissue culture of Cymbidium kanran

  Among wild large-leaf kanran, a branch has been discovered locally (I think other production areas should have it too) whose flowering period, flowers, and leaf type are almost all intermediate between Jianlan (Cymbidium ensifolium) and kanran. If this branch can be understood as a natural hybrid of large-leaf kanran and Jianlan, then large-leaf kanran indeed has naturally hybridized species in existence, with numbers around a few in ten thousand, which is extremely few relative to large-leaf kanran, and the existence of this species can almost be ignored. Similarly, among fine-leaf kanran, there is also a very small branch whose petals (mainly the column petals) no longer carry the white rim, and whose lip petal base color has also become less pure than that of fine-leaf kanran. If this species is a natural hybrid of fine-leaf kanran, then it can also be ignored, because the number of this species is also extremely small.

  As for artificially hybridized kanran varieties, so far none seem to have appeared among fine-leaf kanran; then have they appeared among large-leaf kanran? One could say yes, or one could say no:

  Everyone knows that plant hybridization must have parent plants with excellent traits on both sides in order to produce offspring with both the excellent traits of the father and the excellent traits of the mother. But the naming of offspring does not necessarily have to follow the father as with humans (in our country). So it is not hard to understand why offspring of kanran crossed with other orchid species are called (or classified as) kanran by the hybridizer or the person handling the variety: because kanran is an emerging orchid species, and the appearance of every excellent new variety in kanran will represent infinite wealth. In this sense, artificially hybridized kanran has appeared among large-leaf varieties.

  Any enthusiast who has seen many kanran or has a certain level of appreciation can tell that varieties like Hanxiang Mei, Guilin Peony, and also a kanran stamen butterfly (I don't know the name; I saw this flower twice at orchid exhibitions) and other hybrid kanran types - can such plants still be considered kanran? I think such plants do not even deserve to be called "hanlan": not only are the flower type, flower color, flower tongue, flower stalk height, and flower number of such plants far removed from large-leaf kanran, but some even differ noticeably from large-leaf kanran in leaf type, leaf color, luster, and pseudobulb, not to mention having the unique temperament and spirit of wild kanran. So such plants simply do not deserve to be called kanran. In this sense, no artificially hybridized varieties have appeared among large-leaf kanran either.

  Though the imitation of Dongshi has existed throughout history, I never imagined that with history having developed to today, there would still be such foolish people doing such thoroughly foolish things. Not understanding and not knowing kanran, yet artificially hybridizing kanran and randomly matching pairs - I think this is the biggest joke in orchid hybridization history, and also the biggest failure.

  Modern science and technology have reached a truly frightening level; a cow, a sheep can be copied (cloned), so what plant cannot be copied? As long as there is profit, value, social benefit - in a word, as long as it is deemed worthwhile - I think any orchid plant can be copied (tissue cultured). This depends on the mindset and determination of the tissue culturist.

  Here I have a piece of advice: for kanran hybridization, it is best to do intraspecific hybridization (kanran x kanran), otherwise what comes out will not be kanran, but another Hanxiang Mei. But selecting and breeding offspring through intraspecific hybridization is much more difficult, because the trait variability of the offspring is much greater - that is, you did the work, but it is not easy to get the result you want.

  Another piece of advice: for kanran tissue culture, I think the technical difficulty is much greater than for other orchid species; otherwise, with technology as advanced as Japan's, no tissue-cultured kanran has yet appeared. Another point is that although domestic appreciation standards for kanran have made great progress and shown convergence, a truly unified set of rules has not yet been formed. Which one, which type of flower would you choose for tissue culture? Don't you feel the risk is very high? Yet another point is that the selection and breeding of kanran varieties (in terms of appreciation points) is more complex and much more numerous than other orchid types - that is, in the future there will be thousands upon thousands of kanran varieties, and how many people are willing to take this risk: spending large amounts of money and time to painstakingly tissue culture a few, or even dozens of varieties, only to end up with a tiny share of the kanran market.

VI. On the theory of kanran native species

  All along, whether online, in real life, or in books and magazines about orchids, there seems to be a topic about kanran constantly being clamorously shouted about: that is, the issue of kanran native species. Some enthusiasts in fine-leaf kanran production areas claim that fine-leaf kanran is the native purebred kanran, and describe large-leaf kanran as a natural hybrid of kanran. What is more, whenever a good large-leaf kanran flower appears, some enthusiasts express regret over its questionable origins. I think such practices are suspected of deliberately promoting fine-leaf kanran while disparaging large-leaf kanran, not only misleading enthusiasts but also being extremely detrimental to the development of kanran.

  Is fine-leaf kanran really the native species, and is large-leaf kanran a hybrid?

  Kanran divided by flowering period can be classified into summer kanran and winter kanran (in fact, the so-called spring kanran and autumn kanran are merely summer kanran or winter kanran blooming out of season; such phenomena exist in both large-leaf and fine-leaf varieties. There is no true spring kanran or autumn kanran; a very small number of individual kanran plants can bloom in spring, summer, or autumn, but such groups are few). If divided by leaf type, root system, flower characteristics, etc., they can be classified into large-leaf kanran and fine-leaf kanran. Summer kanran, by leaf type and other features, belongs to the large-leaf kanran category.

  The main production areas of fine-leaf kanran are the Ou River basin in Zhejiang, the Wuyi Mountains and their extending mountain ranges in Fujian and Jiangxi, and there is also a small amount of fine-leaf kanran in Guangxi and Hunan. It is precisely because of this distribution - fine-leaf kanran is mainly distributed in Zhejiang and the Fujian coast, where orchid-growing history is long and the economy is relatively developed - and because the above two provinces developed kanran (mainly fine-leaf kanran) earlier (Japan purchased fine-leaf kanran in Zhejiang in the early days) - as can be seen from the annual Yongjia Kanran Exhibition. Combined with Japan's particular fondness for fine-leaf kanran, fine-leaf kanran's promotion in all aspects was done earlier and better than that of large-leaf kanran. But this cannot prove that fine-leaf is the native species, nor can it prove that large-leaf is a hybrid.

  The reason fine-leaf kanran and large-leaf kanran (here mainly referring to winter kanran) can come together and both be called kanran is entirely determined by their similar flower types and close flowering periods. If we really want to say what parental traits these two orchids might share, I think aside from both having chicken-claw petals, it is hard to find any other common ground. The white rim and white-base tongue of fine-leaf kanran, as well as its thick roots, are almost nowhere to be seen in large-leaf kanran. Conversely, if we speak of the white-base tongue, does that mean Cymbidium goeringii is a hybrid of fine-leaf kanran? Also, the stripe features on petals such as the white rim are somewhat similar to Cymbidium tortisepalum (lianban); does fine-leaf kanran have a kinship with lianban? By the way, Cymbidium faberi and Cymbidium tortisepalum are also thick-rooted - does that mean Cymbidium faberi and Cymbidium tortisepalum are native species of fine-leaf kanran? All such things are merely conjecture.

  Fine-leaf and large-leaf are merely two different orchid species, just like other orchid species among Chinese orchids - relatively independent yet connected orchid plants. They each bloom with similar yet distinct flowers, and both are treasures among Chinese orchids. That summer kanran, fine-leaf, and large-leaf can together be classified as kanran by people is not easy, and this is also a unique phenomenon among Chinese orchids (three strains appearing within one orchid species). Just like a big family with brothers and sisters, it will not appear so lonely - why rush to fight among ourselves?

  In life, some people like salty flavors, some like mild ones; for a hobby, radishes and greens, each takes what they need. What you like, you may praise; what you dislike, you need not resist - a gentle smile is enough.

VII. Starting from kanran aesthetics and going further

  From the perspective of kanran aesthetics, although it only enriches two things - color and the lip petal - the varieties formed by combining and arranging these two are many more: the richness of kanran colors and the diversity of lip petal sizes, shapes, and color markings and patches determine the diversity of kanran varieties. If other orchid species also paid a little more attention in this regard and could innovate in orchid aesthetics, although they might not necessarily breed as many varieties as kanran, they could at least preserve some things of aesthetic value and enrich the varieties of that orchid species. Wild orchid resources are increasingly depleted; increasing the aesthetic orientations of each orchid species, and discovering and thereby preserving the essence among increasingly dwindling wild resources, is the bounden duty of every orchid grower or orchid breeder, and also a social responsibility, as well as another manifestation of protecting wild resources.

  From the perspective of collection, the more wild varieties selected and bred from the mountains, the smaller the impact of tech-grown orchids on the orchid market. Perhaps after some years, on the aesthetic approaches established by our generation, they may be able to meet the demands of the times and gain the recognition of future generations.

  Kanran - everywhere embodies a kind of natural beauty, individual beauty, and charm beauty.

  Love kanran, feel life, perceive nature, and give thanks to our great mother - the Earth.

 

  Concluding remarks:

  I am neither a scholar, nor a plant researcher, nor an expert; I am simply a farmer who loves orchids and grows orchids. Because I am in a production area, and have grown many orchids (mainly kanran), seen many, and exchanged much, I have developed a bit of simple understanding of kanran and the kanran world. The above views are some of my superficial analyses of the current kanran phenomenon from an objective and fair standpoint (at least that is what I believe). If there are errors or rash words, I hope that knowledgeable people in the kanran world will promptly correct them or offer criticism!

                    Yifeng Orchid Garden (Tianxia Wushuang) 2011  8  18