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An Introduction to the Cultivar Characteristics of the Chunlan 'Heshenmei'

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New shoots are pale purplish-red. The leaves are emerald green, glossy, slender, only 0.7-0.9 cm wide and 22-29 cm long; most leaves are slanted upright, though they sometimes vary considerably, with some half-drooping and some half-upright. Its leaf posture is unique among Chunlan orchids. The bract leaves are rose-red, with green coloring at the tips, and purplish-red vein lines running from the base to the top. The 3...
"It originated in the early years of the Republic of China on Yingge Mountain in Yuyao, Zhejiang, and is one of the eight old varieties of Chunlan. The three outer petals have round heads, narrow bases, and tight edges; the five petals are set in separate sockets, with a level shoulder and occasional flying shoulders. The flower is not pure green. This flower's quality is extremely stable; whether the plant is strong or weak, at blooming time there is only a difference in flower size. The blooms differ little. The old leaves are slanted upright in form, and the leaf width is relatively broad, with yellow-green leaves. The bract leaves are rose-red. It is relatively difficult to grow and prone to black spots."
              ——Mo Lei, Jin Zhenchuang, Zheng Liming, eds., Newly Compiled Jiangsu and Zhejiang Orchids
 
"In the spring of 1915, the Zhejiang Ningbo Yuyao orchid farmer Shen Guobao found a plum-petal Chunlan in the mountains of Yingge Yi, Yuyao. He later sold it to He Yongkang, owner of the Yongkang pharmacy on West Street in Yuyao, who named it Heshenmei after his own surname and the petal form. Because it also came from Yingge Yi in Yuyao, some people also called it 'Yinggemei', or 'Gemei' for short. The flower was sold to Japan in 1930."

   New shoots are pale purplish-red. The leaves are emerald green, glossy, slender, only 0.7-0.9 cm wide and 22-29 cm long; most leaves are slanted upright, though they sometimes vary considerably, with some half-drooping and some half-upright. Its leaf posture is unique among Chunlan orchids. The bract leaves are rose-red, with green coloring at the tips, and purplish-red vein lines running from the base to the top. The 3 sepals have narrow bases, extremely round front portions, and tight, inward-curving edges forming a spoon shape; the flesh is thick and glutinous, showing a trace of yellow luster within the green, with thin, pale margins like a white inlay. The back of the "spoon" has faint red vein lines. The 3 sepals bloom in an embracing posture, the two lateral sepal feet are slightly longer, the shoulder is level, and at times it stands tall and flying (commonly called a flying shoulder), indescribably beautiful. The large Guanyin holding-heart: the base is narrow, the front of the petals is broad and round, the tight edges curve inward into a deep pocket shape, and the pocket tip is pale yellow, large in area, very moist, lustrous, and radiant. Both the inside and outside of the two petals are covered with red thread-like markings, and they can close over the column. The Liu Hai tongue is neat and compact, slightly flattened on the lower edge, round with angular corners, water-white, adorned with even, vivid pale red dots. The flower scape is pale purplish-red, gradually turning green toward the top, slender and tall, generally 12-14 cm long. Because the leaves are rather upright, the flower scape is medium-tall, and the flower still cannot rise above the leaves to bloom. But her flowers and floral posture are truly too beautiful to behold, and among the plum-petal forms of Chunlan she is indeed first-rate.

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