Orchid Appreciation: Commemorative Album for the Founding of the Orchid Society, Volume 3
Orchid Society Founding Commemorative Album 3 ---OrchidsAppreciation
Chinese orchidsof flowersappreciation.
Chinese orchids,cultivationhas a long history, with abundant varieties, elegant plant form, graceful flowers, refined leaf appearance, and overflowing delicate fragrance, deeply cherished by people. When we appreciate Chinese orchids, we value their temperament. With the course of history, varieties have increased, times have changed, and people's tastes have also shifted. From the perspective of appreciation, this is mainly reflected in flower artistry, leaf artistry, and fragrance.
1. Flower artistry: Appreciating orchids is mainly about appreciating the flowers. Traditionally, orchid flower artistry has been roughly divided into:
A. Petal-type flowers include plum petals, lotus petals, and narcissus petals. Petal-type flowers have strict appreciation standards regarding petal requirements.
B. Plain flowers
C. Butterfly flowers include petal butterflies, side-petal butterflies, and full butterflies
D. Novel flowers include multi-petal and few-petal flowers
E. Colored flowers
2. Leaf artistry. The leaf artistry of Chinese orchids is ever-changing and richly varied, such as rimmed edges, stripes, tiger stripes, snake skin, lingluo, pictorial mottling, landscape painting patterns, and so on. Many beautiful scenes in life can be reflected on a tiny orchid leaf.
Orchid leaves are emerald green and verdant, with a glossy, bright, and clean leaf surface. What is even more remarkable is that during cultivation, variations in leaf color and markings can appear. This is rarely seen in other flowers. This provides usorchid growerswith great pleasure. Quite a few classic famous cultivars have produced line-art varieties due to the influence of the growing environment. The ever-changing nature of Chinese orchids from time to time brings usorchid growerssurprises.
3. Fragrance. Orchids have that alluring and mysterious delicate fragrance, which no flower's aroma in the world can compare with. Whether it isCymbidium faberi's strong fragrance,Cymbidium goeringii's light fragrance, orCymbidium kanran's delicate fragrance, or the sandalwood-like scent of the New Year orchid, they all share one common characteristic: clear yet subtle, as if present and yet not.
Throughout history, orchid lovers ancient and modern have greatly praised the fragrance of orchids. For example, Confucius said: the orchid should be the fragrance of kings, which made orchid fragrance leap to become the universally recognized king of fragrances, a scent loved by old and young alike and suitable for both the noble and the humble. Emperor Taizong of Tang wrote of dappled shadows under the bright sun, and fragrance carried light or heavy by the wind. Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty wrote that at times one smells the fragrance of wind and dew, though the mugwort and wormwood grow deep and hide it. Su Zhe wrote that in the deep valley one cannot see where the orchid grows, and only by chasing the breeze does one occasionally obtain it. Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty had the wonderful orchid-praising line of graceful flower posture and long green leaves, and when the wind comes it is hard to hide the fragrance in the valley, greatly admiring orchid fragrance as well.
They wrote with such clarity about how orchid fragrance is sometimes present and sometimes not, drifting unpredictably. Because different orchid varieties contain different chemical components and different compositions, the fragrance people smell from orchids also differs. Among these main chemical components of orchid fragrance, some can sterilize and detoxify, and some can refresh the mind…… Therefore, when cultivating orchids and they bloom, the released orchid fragrance can freshen the air and purify the home.
In summary, appreciating orchids is a process from form to spirit. Every petal shape, color, and fragrance of orchids brings sensory enjoyment, while the petal shapes and colors of each group of flowers are utterly different. The same variety in different people's hands, in different regions, and with different cultivation methods presents contents and forms that are wonderfully diverse and not the same. Orchids not only display the richness of their artistic image, but also symbolize human spirit, human emotion, and human character.
4. Orchid appreciation terminology
Color: The color of terrestrial orchids, although relatively simple and plain, lacking the seductive glamour of other flowers, has a quiet, restrained color and elegant charm that ordinary flowers find hard to match. According to tradition in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, green is considered best for orchids and cymbidiums, especially tender green as first, old green as second, yellow-green next, and red-green even lower. For red flowers, those with a sticky, glutinous color are always superior, while those with dim color tinged with purple are inferior. For other types of orchids, the evaluation of color varies by region.
Shoulder: Among the three outer petals of an orchid, the central vertical petal is called the main petal, and the two petals arranged horizontally on the left and right are called side petals. The so-called shoulder specifically refers to the posture where the side petals are attached: the first type is horizontal, called level shoulder, and belongs to the superior grade; the second type, when the petals open, the two side petals droop slightly, called falling shoulder, and this form is relatively inferior; the third type is when the flower has just fully bloomed and the side petals droop greatly, forming a triangle with the main petal, called large falling shoulder, three-legged horse, or splayed frame. If it takes this form, even if the petal shape and flower quality are good, because the outer three petals are attached in a poor posture, it is not worth taking, and belongs to the inferior grade; the fourth type is when the side petals slightly turn upward, called flying shoulder, and belongs to the noble grade.