How to Select Plum Blossom Orchids from Wild-Collected Plants

Laotianlv (photo courtesy of Jinxin Orchid Garden). Plum blossom orchids on the mountain mostly have fish-belly leaves, mostly arched, with relatively glossy color, a strong glutinous leaf texture, and fine, delicate substance. New growth is emerald green. When you feel it with your hand, the leaf is elastic, not soft and limp like touching thin paper. The leaf tip is pointed, the leaf forms a U or V shape, and the serrations are relatively coarse (of course, some are slightly coarser) and perpendicular to the leaf. The central leaf is the most important: there is a V shape at the leaf tip, the side leaves have good arching, a fish-belly shape, and good root constriction; the leaf base should be thin and hard. On new leaves, white tips can be seen, and new shoots have white tips (below the white tip there is red coloring). The more white tips, the stronger the staminoideization. The roots are thin and round, look clean, and when touched by hand the leaf tip is hard and gives a stinging sensation. This point is the most important and must not be overlooked. If there are many characteristics, it is a plum blossom orchid, and it is surely 99 percent certain; but if there are only one or two characteristics, do not easily discard it either, because perhaps there is a 60 percent chance among them!