Why is Green Cloud called the Queen of Spring Orchids?

"Green Cloud" is a rare and precious famous variety among the lotus-petal spring orchids. Its three petals are short, round and broad, with mussel-shell holds and a Liu Hai tongue. The petals and lip vary enormously, sometimes producing multiple petals, multiple holds, multiple lips and multiple flower forms, truly making it an exotic lotus-petal type, listed as an absolute masterpiece in the Qing Dynasty's "Lan Hui Tong Xin Lu".

Rare orchids always have beautiful legends. It is said that there was once a widow living on Wuyun Mountain in Hangzhou. Her uncles and elders bullied her for being alone and wanted to seize her house and land. She went to Hangzhou to file a lawsuit. On the way through the mountain wilds she smelled a subtle fragrance, followed it to find a clump of orchid grass, casually picked a flower and pinned it in her hair, then hurried on toward the Drum Tower. Passing by Hangzhou's most renowned Shao Zhiyan brush shop, the orchid in her hair was spotted by the shopkeeper, who was a passionate orchid lover. He hurriedly blocked her way and pressed her about the origin of the orchid she wore. The widow had business at hand and was frantic with anxiety, paid him no heed and kept walking straight ahead, but the shopkeeper clung on stubbornly. Finally they reached an agreement: the lawsuit must be won with the shopkeeper taking responsibility, and only then could the widow go back to find the grass. The result was predictable - a lawsuit backed by money wins in the end, and naturally the shopkeeper also got the orchid he wanted. That orchid was truly endearing: eight or nine fleshy, broad, tender-green petals slightly opening and closing, wrapping around a slightly rolled-back white round tongue marked with a vermilion U-shaped patch and a somewhat deformed milky-yellow column tip. Everyone who saw this flower could not help blurting out that it was strange, and in unison they cried: "It's simply a miniature lotus blossom!" I dare not conclude from this that the discovery of this flower was the origin of the lotus-petal orchid, but one thing can be said: among the lotus-petal flowers recorded in currently published books, none has a discovery date earlier than this flower. Successive wars destroyed many precious varieties, and legend says this lotus treasure that everyone loved once disappeared. Later the wars subsided and peace and prosperity returned. As people seeking to display wealth and affect refinement grew more numerous, so too did those who went into the mountains to find orchids and exchange them for silver to support their families. It is said that two brothers went into the mountains to collect orchids and came upon a secluded valley cliff, where they saw on the cliff a clump of orchid grass with twisted leaves and no flower bud. The brothers went around to the top of the cliff, lowered a rope down the cliff, brushed aside the rotting soil beside the orchid roots, and carefully lifted that clump of orchid out. Suddenly they discovered that a fine gold chain was tangled around the interlaced roots of that orchid, and on the chain hung a gold plaque half an inch square. The brothers were astonished and hurriedly brought the gold plaque close to look; clearly engraved on it were the two characters "Green Cloud". The brothers could not understand it no matter how they tried. Back home, the greedy elder brother kept the gold chain and gold plaque and tossed that clump of orchid to his younger brother. The younger brother did not argue with his elder brother and planted that clump of orchid. When the villagers learned of it, some said the elder brother's heart was too black, treating even his own brother that way, and others said the younger brother was too foolish, giving up gold for grass that did not even have a flower bud. Hearing this, the younger brother merely smiled. Several years passed, and the younger brother's clump of grass finally bloomed. When it flowered, it also revealed a mystery: that flower was the lotus that had disappeared amid the wars and had driven so many high officials, nobles, literati and scholars wild with obsession. For this the younger brother obtained silver worth a thousand times the value of the gold chain and gold plaque, and he also spoke the words he had hidden in his heart for years: an orchid grass that could bear a gold plaque must certainly be worth more than gold; gold has a price, but a precious orchid grass is priceless. The years proved the truth of the younger brother's words, and the devotion of orchid growers to orchids also allowed the precious orchid "Green Cloud" to continue and be passed down. We need not concern ourselves with whether these two legends are true or false; the "Green Cloud" orchid is real. She remains so enchanting, still so changeable and mysterious. Of course, because of this she also fills the regret of the ancients that "a lotus is nowhere to be found."

With the changes in people's understanding of flowers and plants during reform and opening up, and the flourishing of the orchid market, the seemingly extinct "Green Cloud" was brought forth overnight. I was fortunate enough to buy two seedlings. After five years of painstaking cultivation, with old growth fading and new growth sprouting, it finally budded and bloomed. The excitement and joy truly defy description. In order to enjoy the full unfolding of "Green Cloud" blooming, I let the flower bloom and fade, and only when the flower wilted and the plant declined did I regret it too late! The decline of the potted plant confirmed the old saying that "when a flower stays open too long, it must harm the plant."

Everything in the world is full of spirit. As long as you truly pour your affection into it, it will unreservedly return your love for it. This is so for all things, and even more so for orchids. If not for the workings of a novelty-seeking mentality, orchid lovers who can possess this orchid and cultivate it with care can not only appreciate its unpredictable floral appearance and smell its delicate fragrance each year, but also look forward to the surprises of the coming year. This is truly a joyful thing in life. If through your cultivation and your photography you could leave the world a beautiful image of "Green Cloud" blooming with a dozen or more petals, a photograph passed down through the ages, then I think that for a true orchid lover, this life would surely be enough.

Identifying true and false Green Cloud by the spearhead leaf shape:

The flower buds of Green Cloud

Photoshopped images of Green Cloud