Cymbidium goeringii 'Huanqiu Hedding' (also known as Huanqiu Huanhe) Variety Introduction

In 1922, it was discovered by orchid farmer Hu Qishi of Jiatou Village, Shaoxing, on Dashibu Mountain in Shangyu, Zhejiang, and later brought to Shanghai and sold to Yu Kongzhao for 800 silver yuan to cultivate. At the time it caused a sensation in Shanghai. By the spring of 1923, due to improper cultivation, only three seedling shoots remained of this plant, and Yu Kongzhao transferred it to Qin Cainan for 650 silver yuan. Another account says that the Shaoxing orchid grower Hu Qishi dug it up and sold it to the Shanghai boss Yu Zhixiang for 500 silver yuan. It may be that the Shaoxing orchid farmer Hu Qishi at the time did not bring all the Huanqiu Hedding he had dug to Shanghai to sell to Yu Kongzhao, and kept a few shoots for himself (this was also a common practice among Shaoxing orchid farmers), and later sold them to Yu Zhixiang for 500 silver yuan.

Huanqiu Hedding has a slanting upright leaf posture, deep dew-catching leaf pouches, foot sheaths tightly wrapping the leaf stalks, leaf tips sharply tapering to a pure point. Leaves are 1-1.5 cm wide and 18-28 cm long, dark green in color, with good gloss and especially thick and hard leaf texture. Leaf margin serrations are sparse and fine. Leaves have tight edges, and the leaf shape is very similar to the leaves of 'Luyun', with extremely fine leaf veins, and twisted leaves often appear. New shoots are purple-green, flower buds have mercury-red sheaths, with purplish-red veins, and a pale water-green sand-like mottling. The three outer sepals are short and round, narrow at the base and flared at the corners. Petals have tight edges, the petal flesh is extremely thick, the column petals are short and round (clamshell-shaped column), with a small Liu Hai tongue, and the red spots on the tongue form a "U" shape. Generally, lotus-petal flowers all have large round tongues, yet Huanqiu Hedding has a small Liu Hai tongue, which is a very distinctive feature. The flower stalk is emerald green, about 10 cm tall. The flower color is green with a purplish-red blush (many Huanhe now carry this color). This point has been controversial in orchid circles; some consider it a colored flower, but others do not, while in Japan it is regarded as a colored lotus-petal flower, the only colored lotus-petal flower among traditional varieties. Huanqiu Hedding has a proper flower form, a medium-sized flower, graceful leaf shape, and a relatively tall flower stalk. The flower color and tongue petals are very distinctive. It is a treasure among traditional varieties of Cymbidium goeringii. In 1962, when Premier Zhou Enlai received the Japanese-Chinese friendship figure Mr. Kenzo Matsumura, who was visiting China, in Hangzhou, knowing that Mr. Kenzo Matsumura was passionately fond of orchids, he presented a pot of Huanqiu Hedding from the Hangzhou Flower Garden to Mr. Kenzo Matsumura, as a symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship. In his later years, on his deathbed, Mr. Kenzo Matsumura repeatedly instructed his son, Mr. Masanao Matsumura, to cultivate Huanqiu Hedding well. In November 1978, the 79-year-old Mr. Masanao Matsumura gave the descendant seedlings of this pot of Huanqiu Hedding back as a gift to the Shaoxing Orchid Association of China, becoming a much-told story in orchid circles. Huanqiu Hedding has won major awards many times at domestic orchid exhibitions. This year, at the 19th China Orchid Expo held in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, the Huanqiu Hedding submitted for exhibition by Mr. Zhang Fushun of Changxing, Huzhou, Zhejiang, won the gold award again.

There is also controversy in orchid circles regarding the flower color of Huanqiu Hedding. In the Japanese Orchid Flower Spectrum by Eijiro Ohara and in China's A Brief History of Orchids and Shen Yuanru's Orchids, Huanqiu Hedding is described as having a tender green and delicate flower color. The author also grows a pot of Huanqiu Hedding that blooms green flowers, with both flower buds and leaf buds emerald green, and in particular almost no red veins can be seen on the flower buds. Shanghai orchid enthusiast Li Xintian also has a Huanqiu Hedding that blooms green flowers, and it is unrelated to shaded or sunny cultivation, blooming green flowers every year. However, current orchid books all describe its flower color as green with a purplish-red blush, considering the flower color to be rather murky, and most Huanqiu Hedding now also blooms in the so-called amber color of green with a purplish-red blush. Exactly what causes the two different colors of Huanqiu Hedding, and whether it is the same flower or two different varieties of flower, still awaits further study by the broad community of orchid enthusiasts. In recent years, among Huanqiu Hedding there have also appeared Huanqiu Hedding with center-variegated patterns and edged-variegated patterns; the center-variegated Huanqiu Hedding is called 'Shi Huangdi' (First Emperor), and the edged-variegated one is called 'Guanggong' (Light Palace). Whether they are bud-sport varieties or technological products is impossible to know.