Introduction to the Xiaoyuanbao Cymbidium goeringii Variety and Key Appreciation Points
The leaves are slanted and upright; in robust plants the leaves carry a crystalline, translucent quality, and the plant shows slight butterfly-like variegation. The leaves are noticeably shortened, only about 20 cm long and 0.8-0.9 cm wide. Weak plants lack the crystalline, translucent quality, with leaves about 28 cm long and a lusterless leaf color. The flower scape is 10-12 cm tall; the petal-like segments (peng ban) have become butterfly-like (die hua), forming three tongues, with symmetrically arranged red markings, vivid colors, and a pure, mellow fragrance. Xiaoyuan...
Xiaoyuanbao and the famous Cymbidium goeringii cultivar "Dayuanbao" are equally wonderful in their own ways. This variety differs from "Dayuanbao" in the following respects: Dayuanbao has a semi-pendant plant form, and in large plants the leaf surface also shows a small amount of butterfly-like variegation; its flowers are larger than those of Xiaoyuanbao, mainly because the center of the flower (the three tongues) is larger than that of Xiaoyuanbao, and the colors are somewhat more vivid, but when the flower has been open for a long time, the two petal-like segments (peng ban) tend to turn slightly green. The actual flowers of Xiaoyuanbao are not as good as they appear in photographs; its greatest shortcoming is that the center of the flower (the three tongues) is too small, so there is some difference between the photographs and the actual flowers.