Introduction to the Variety Characteristics of Pan Lü Mei Huilan
Petal type: Huilan green-shell type plum petal. History: Qing Dynasty Qianlong period, originated in Yixing. Characteristics: The three outer petals have long feet and round heads, resembling the shape of boxwood leaves, with a notch at the petal tip, claw points, and the outer petals tend to wrinkle. Flat shoulders, split-head combined-back holding heart, pointed ruyi tongue, tucked within the holding petals. Flower color pale green. Not easy to bloom, requires plenty of sunlight. Listed among the eight old varieties of Huilan.
Petal type: Huilan green-shell type plum petal
History: Qing Dynasty Qianlong period, originated in Yixing. Selected during the Qing Dynasty Qianlong period by someone surnamed Pan from Yixing. Also called Yixing Mei.
Characteristics: The three outer petals have long feet and round heads, resembling the shape of boxwood leaves, with a notch at the petal tip, claw points, and the outer petals tend to wrinkle. Flat shoulders, split-head combined-back holding heart, pointed ruyi tongue, tucked within the holding petals. Flower color pale green. Not easy to bloom, requires plenty of sunlight. Listed among the eight old varieties of Huilan.
Pan Lü Mei: Leaves long and broad, 44-50 cm, width 1.2-1.4 cm, slanting upright, leaf texture thick and hard, not arching, quite sturdy in structure, pale green, without luster, leaf veins deep, protruding toward the back, leaf margin serrations coarse and sharp, leaf tip sharply pointed. [Some orchid enthusiasts say that the Pan Lü Mei sold as Qinghua Mei has serrations on the back of the leaves; the seller should be clear about this point, and the buyer can also feel it]
[Flower] The three sepals have long feet and round heads, elliptical, somewhat resembling boxwood leaves with a narrow, elongated feel, petals slightly wrinkled, with a slight pointed peak and sometimes a notch at the center of the petal tip, the side petals extending flat. Semi-hard holding heart, yellow-white head, tightly edged at the front, with a moderate pouch, sometimes connected-shoulder combined-back, sometimes split-head combined-back. The pointed ruyi tongue is very short, white base mixed with green, with purplish-red blotches, slightly tilting downward, edges wrinkled and curved, tip protruding outward, but mostly tightly tucked within the holding petals or merged with the holding petals into one piece. Pan Lü Mei flowers are medium to large, 5.5-6 cm. The flower color, a vivid green, is gorgeous, but the outer whorl and central column of the flower are extremely uncoordinated; the flower scape is slender, emerald green, slightly twisted, bearing 6-9 flowers, with long, even spacing between flowers, and the small flower stalks are slender, blooming above the leaf surface. This variety's flower form is somewhat poor; if given plenty of sunlight in spring with moderate fertilizer and water, it can produce a better flower form and gorgeous blooms. Pan Lü Mei has a relatively late flowering period, and often blooms wrinkled, and is also not easy to flower, requiring plenty of sun in mid-spring and early summer.
