Introduction to the Characteristics of the Huangmei Chunlan (Cymbidium tortisepalum) Orchid Variety
The leaves of this plant are dark green, soft and drooping, about 14cm wide, with pointed tips and a thick, glutinous texture. One scape bears 2-5 flowers; the scape rises above the leaves, with level shoulders, and the flowers hold up quite well. When the flower first opens, it turns from green to tender white; after a long time, it becomes slightly pale yellow. As it is about to fade, it opens again into a bluish green. The three outer sepals are short-stalked, broad and round, with tightly rolled edges, curving inward like a spoon. The inner petals...
Huangmei, this variety belongs to Chunlan (Cymbidium tortisepalum). In 1991, an orchid dealer from Pingshan County, Sichuan, selected it while purchasing wild-collected orchids in Wanyuan County. After cultivating it for several years until it bloomed, he brought it to the Chengdu flower market in 1995 to sell, where it was purchased by the owner of an orchid garden who has cultivated it to this day.
The leaves are dark green and soft-drooping; each plant has 5-8 leaves, about 1.4 cm wide, with leaves reaching up to 60 cm long, pointed tips, and a thick, fleshy, glutinous texture. It blooms 2-5 flowers; the scape rises above the leaves, with level shoulders, and the flowers hold up quite well. When the flower first opens, it turns from green to tender white, with almost no red veins or speckles on the three outer sepals, sparkling and translucent as if a precious pearl were shining. After blooming for a long time, it becomes slightly pale yellow; as it is about to fade, it opens again into a bluish green. The three outer sepals are short-stalked, broad and round, with tightly rolled edges, curving inward like a spoon. The inner petals are broad, large and perfectly round, tightly embracing the column and the lip, shaped like a watermelon. Within the thick, round pouch lip, a single large red round dot lies hidden like a precious pearl held in the mouth, deeply concealed and only faintly visible through the semi-transparent edge layer of the round lip, slightly opening upward to correspond with and protectively embrace the column - truly endearing. The overall shape of the flower is full of strength, noble and magnificent, as dignified and majestic as an emperor, looking proudly upon all other flowers. It is said that in the hundreds of years since Songmei first appeared, this is the first top-grade plum-petal variety that can rival it:
First, compared with Songmei, its three outer sepals are rounder and more full of spirit;
Second, its color is more beautiful, a bright, sparkling, crystalline white;
Third, its inner petals are broader, rounder and thicker than those of Songmei, shaped like a watermelon; Fourth, its lip is round and pouch-shaped, containing a large red round dot, whereas Songmei's lip is a fringe lip that droops downward; Fifth, it bears more flowers than Songmei, producing 2-5 blooms; Sixth, the flowers are large and rise above the leaves, and when numerous they can bloom higher than the leaf surface; Seventh, the leaves are broad and soft-drooping.
