The Wonders of Chinese Orchid Leaves: What Makes Orchid Leaves Unique

Promoting Chinese orchid culture and spreading orchid knowledge

There has long been a saying that "appreciating leaves surpasses appreciating flowers." During the Southern Song Dynasty, people discovered yellow edges appearing on orchid leaves and regarded them as a wonder. Later, people gradually discovered that in addition to yellow and white edges appearing on the leaves, there would also appear markings such as claws, spots, stripes, lines, moss, brushes, and transparency. These markings make the leaf coloration of orchids rich in variation and even more beautiful. Through hundreds of years of selection and cultivation, people established and perfected Chinese orchid line-art studies (xianyi xue) through the practice of selecting, growing, and appreciating. It is known that the markings on Chinese orchid leaves are formed by genetic factors in the cell nucleus, and some are formed by variations in intracellular pigments.

People have bred three types of horticultural varieties that combine artistic forms, such as: edge-spot-stripe, claw-spot-stripe, moss-spot-stripe, brush-spot-stripe. However, no variety combining four artistic forms has yet been bred. This is one of the wonders that people seek in Chinese orchid line art. To this day, only a few people can identify artistic nature by artistic form, that is, distinguish nuclear genetic factor spots from cytoplasmic pigment variation spots, in order to determine whether it is what is commonly called a horticultural variety with both flower artistry and leaf artistry. Orchid lovers all hope to have this knowledge. Furthermore, after selecting a basic line-art plant, how to quickly cultivate and evolve it into high-grade artistry, such as brocade art, treasure art, crane art, crown art, transparent art, etc. A few orchid enthusiasts can do this but keep it secret and do not pass it on, treating it as a rare skill.

Growing and appreciating Chinese orchids places great emphasis on skill and artistry. Skill is the ability to grow orchids, artistry is knowledge, and the key is intuitive understanding, which mostly comes from one's character. Among the wonders of Chinese orchid leaves, dwarf varieties are one. The earliest selected dwarf variety among Chinese orchids was in 1900 AD, the Cymbidium goeringii 'Cuigaihe' (Jade Canopy Lotus). By today's standards, 'Cuigaihe' is a semi-dwarf variety. Nowadays, when people appreciate dwarf varieties, they single-mindedly seek the shortest possible height, as short as 1-2 cm. As a result, regardless of who grows them, when grown in flower pots they cannot be seen clearly during appreciation and they do not bloom for a long time. Growers just hold onto a whimsical hope and wait for them to grow larger.

People seek dwarf stature, wrinkled skin, round heads, and thick substance as wonders. However, the dwarf variety of Cymbidium sinense 'Damo' (Dharma) only produces ordinary common flowers. Inspired by this, people added four more requirements: the leaf texture should be glutinous and smooth, the leaf veins should be fine and bright, the leaf sheath should be round and tight, and the leaf grooves should hold dew. With all eight standards met, one can hope for good flowers. Practice has also proven this to be correct, for example: among dwarf varieties, yellow-flowered lotus-plain, red-flowered lotus-petal unusual flowers, lotus-petal and other floral artistry have already bloomed. The pursuit in orchid artistry is endless. Dwarf varieties combined with line art is the current new trend of seeking wonders. In the past 3-5 years, dedicated enthusiasts proposed playing with "crystal" and "picture spots" as wonders of Chinese orchids. When white semi-transparent line markings appear on orchid leaves, people give them the elegant name "crystal." When yellow-white water ripple patterns, cloud spots, and mountain-shaped patterns appear on orchid leaves, people give them the elegant name "landscape painting," also called "picture spot art." Because "crystal" and "picture spots" are mostly invasive or parasitic chlorophyll deficiency spots, the "crystal" on old plant leaves easily scorches, and "picture spots" also easily develop scorched black spots at the markings.

Therefore, they often appear beautiful on new shoots but unsightly on old plants, are not aesthetically pleasing overall, and can be appreciated for only a relatively short time. People hope that flowers will also have "crystal," and indeed some flowers do carry "crystal," but most have distorted, lopsided, and unattractive flower shapes. "Picture spots" do exist, but both Japanese and Korean orchid circles classify them under spot art within line art. Although spot art is relatively stable, it evolves little and blooms plainly, so its status in line art is not high. People choose "crystal" and "picture spots" to enjoy as a type of leaf art. First, they have obvious defects; second, many of the terms borrow from line art terminology. From this, it is clear that creating a new art category in Chinese orchids is not easy. Beyond selecting the right materials, the innovator must have relatively high orchid artistry cultivation; otherwise, it is easy to take the path of copying and rigidly combining, with low creativity and a name in vain. "Crystal" and "picture spots" were only popular for 3-5 years and ultimately did not become a new trend. More than ten years ago, people discovered lip-like (labellum) transformation on Chinese orchid leaves, and later discovered that 1-3 lip petals would open at the tips of the central leaves of Chinese orchid plants. Orchid enthusiasts all found this very strange, so they consulted Professor Yang Diqing, director of the Jiangxi Lushan Botanical Garden. Teacher Yang said: "The flowers of flowering plants are transformed from leaves; flowers can actually also be called special leaves. It is possible for orchid leaves to show characteristics of transforming toward flowers." The mystery was solved. Orchid enthusiasts carefully observed this variant trait in their orchid-growing practice and found that most of the flowers it produces are "stamen butterflies" or multi-lip-petal floral artistry. People have successively selected this type of variation from varieties such as Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, and Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum. You can call it a wonder leaf, or you can call it a wonder flower. The selection, breeding, and acclimatization of this type of variation has added new content to precious leaves.

The wonders of Chinese orchid leaves can be summarized into the four major categories described above, namely line art, dwarf varieties, lip-transformed leaves, and "crystal and picture spots." The appreciation of Chinese orchids has always emphasized new, green, rare, and unusual. In the competition of wonders and beauty, the connotations of appreciation are constantly enriched, to the extent that the steadfastness of plum blossoms, the clear charm of narcissus flowers, the tolerance of lotus flowers, the noble purity of chrysanthemums, the wealth and honor of peonies, the integrity of bamboo, and the beauty of a hundred flowers are all encompassed within the orchid.

The beauty of Chinese orchids lies in the fact that they embody the virtues of the Chinese nation; the wonder of Chinese orchids lies in their broad inclusiveness. When we appreciate the beauty of Chinese orchids, we are actually appreciating the beauty of human character and thereby engaging in self-reflection. When we select and breed novel horticultural varieties of Chinese orchids, we are actually selecting and breeding the style of a new era, and at the same time making a self-selection of character and artistic cultivation.

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