Appreciating Flower Colors: Discovering the Unique Charm of Floral Hues

(1) Plain-Petal (Su Xin) Varieties
Any orchid whose lip (labellum) bears no color patches is classified as a plain-heart petal (su xin ban). Becauseorchidpigments are mostly concentrated on the lip, when the lip has no color patches, the three outer sepals and the petals generally show no color patches either. In traditional plain-petal varieties, the three outer sepals and the petals are green, and the lip is white. Correspondingly, ordinaryorchidlips are called "halo flowers" (yun hua) because they carry red or purple.
By lip color, plain-heart varieties can be divided into green-based plain, white-based plain, yellow-based plain, peach-cheek plain (with red halos on both sides of the base of the lip), and bristle-hair plain (with faint fine red markings on the lip surface). For plain-heart petals, green is the most prized lip color. Recently the meaning of plain-petal flowers has been expanded: any flower whose lip matches the color of thefloweris called a plain-heart petal, such as yellow-flower plain, red-flower plain, and purple-flower plain. Such flowers have been found in Sichuan, Yunnan-Guizhou, and the two Hubei-Hunan regions, but are rarely found in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area.
By the three outer sepals and the petals, they can further be divided into plum-type plain, such as Cai Mei Su; lotus-type plain, such as Yang's He Su and Wen Tuan Su; butterfly plain, such as Yang's Su Die; and bamboo-leaf plain, such as Yin Gu Su and Tian Tong Su. As for ordinary grass plain varieties, because their petals are narrow like chicken claws, they are not listed among the fine flowers.
(2) Compound-Color Petals
1. Claw Flowers There are several types: green ground with gold claws (yellow claws), green ground with silver claws (white claws), white ground with green claws, and yellow ground with green claws. Since orchid leaves have clawed tips, the corresponding flowers also have claws. Examples include Jin Bian Yu Yi and Shu Guang.
2. Stripe Flowers The petals have irregular yellow or white lines. Since orchid leaves produce stripe patterns, stripe patterns also appear in the corresponding flowers, such as Wu Cai Huang Guan.
3. Rimmed Flowers The petal edges are bordered with white or yellow and are called rimmed flowers. Since the leaves show rims, sometimes the corresponding flowers also show rims, such as Jin Bian Yu Yi.
4. Speckled Flowers Irregular yellow or white speckles appear on the petals. Since speckle patterns appear on the orchid leaves, sometimes the corresponding flowers also show speckles, but this phenomenon occurs relatively rarely.