How to cultivate lady's slipper orchids? Cultivation and care tips for lady's slipper orchids
Orchids are the national flower of our country and have been loved by people from ancient times to the present, and are known as noble and elegant. According to the editor, there are many varieties of orchids, and some rare varieties have high ornamental value and are expensive in the market. For the editor, there is no reason not to love orchids; whether the leaves or the flowers, they are all beautiful scenery to admire
Orchids are the national flower of our country and have been loved by people from ancient times to the present, and are known as noble and elegant. According to the editor, there are many varieties of orchids, and some rare varieties have high ornamental value and are expensive in the market. For the editor, there is no reason not to love orchids; whether the leaves or the flowers, they are all beautiful scenery to admire. If you also love orchids like the editor, you can take a look at the cultivation and care tips for lady's slipper orchids.
[Soil] Lady's slipper orchids like loose, breathable, well-drained humus soil. For soil cultivation, it is best to use mountain soil mixed with pine needles and sandy soil. If conditions permit, use a mix of Kanuma soil, Akadama soil and kiryu sand with tree fern and peat soil for the best results.
[Flower pot] Lady's slipper orchids have fleshy roots and well-developed root systems, so they are suitable for cultivation in relatively deep open-mouthed pots. Purple clay pots, tile pots and plastic pots are suitable; ceramic pots and stone pots can also be used, while porcelain pots should be used with caution. Wild lady's slipper orchids need to be soaked in disinfectant for one hour, have their roots trimmed, and be disinfected before potting.
[Temperature and light] Lady's slipper orchids like warm and bright environments. In spring, autumn and winter they can receive full-day sunlight; in summer they need shading, and in winter they should be brought indoors for care. For lady's slipper orchids to bloom abundantly, there should be a suitable temperature difference between day and night.
[Watering] As with orchid care, keep the soil moist, water when dry and let it dry between waterings, and water thoroughly when watering. When grown in kiryu sand, watering in spring is generally once a day, in summer once in the morning and once in the evening, in autumn water should be reduced appropriately, and in winter the frequency can be decreased. It can be adjusted according to the dryness and moisture of the soil medium.
[Fertilizing] Lady's slipper orchids like fertilizer. Generally, slow-release fertilizer can be mixed into the medium so that no additional fertilizing is needed. If there is no base fertilizer, fertilize in spring and autumn, taking care to apply light fertilizer frequently. Stop fertilizing during high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter.
[Propagation] Lady's slipper orchids are mostly propagated by division, similar to orchids. This is mostly done in spring and autumn. Cut the rhizome with the plant from the rhizome base, apply plant ash or erythromycin and other healing agents, or use burning, to avoid infection, then pot them separately.
[Pests and diseases] As with orchids, these are mostly fungal infections, generally caused by poor ventilation and overly moist soil. They can be controlled with carbendazim, mancozeb and thiophanate-methyl. In severe cases, repotting is needed, cutting off diseased and dead roots, soaking in potassium permanganate solution or other disinfectants, drying slightly, and then potting.
The lady's slipper orchid is one variety among many orchids. Its flowers are brown and purplish red, and its leaves are upright and elegant. It is often called the flower of the goddess and has extremely high ornamental value. The above is a detailed cultivation method for it, and everyone can try growing it.
[Lady's slipper orchid] What requirements does the lady's slipper orchid have for its growing environment? Appreciation of pictures of Cypripedium flowers
The lady's slipper orchid has a unique flower shape and good horticultural value. It is currently also cultivated artificially, and people affectionately call it the “flower of the goddess”, expressing their love for it. So what kind of plant is the lady's slipper orchid? Today the editor will tell everyone, and will also share an appreciation of pictures of Cypripedium flowers.
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Introduction to the lady's slipper orchid
The lady's slipper orchid plant is about 20-45 cm tall, has thick rhizomes, and upright stems covered with glandular hairs. The leaves are elliptical or ovate-elliptical, with acute or shortly acuminate tips, sparsely covered with short pubescence on the underside, and fine marginal hairs along the leaf edges. The inflorescence is terminal; the floral bracts are leaf-like, elliptic-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; the flowers have chestnut or purplish red sepals and petals, but the lip is yellow; the petals are linear or linear-lanceolate. The flowering period is concentrated in June-July.
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Geographical distribution of the lady's slipper orchid
The lady's slipper orchid grows under forests, at forest edges, in shrublands or on forest grassland at altitudes of 500-1000 m. It is produced in Heilongjiang, eastern Jilin, Liaoning and northeastern Inner Mongolia in China. It is also distributed in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Siberia and Europe.
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Growth habits of the lady's slipper orchid
The lady's slipper orchid likes places with high air humidity and air circulation. It is shade-loving, avoids direct sunlight, likes moisture and avoids dryness, and grows best at 15°C to 30°C. Above 35°C it grows poorly; below 15°C it enters a dormant state. If the temperature is too high and combined with exposure to sunlight, leaf scorch or withering can appear within one or two days. If the temperature is too low and it is not moved indoors in time, frost damage can occur. The lady's slipper orchid has fleshy roots and is suitable for sandy loam rich in humus and well drained.
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Cultivation methods for the lady's slipper orchid
The lady's slipper orchid is generally propagated by division, preferably in both spring and autumn, usually once every three years. Any plant that grows vigorously and has dense pseudobulbs can be divided. After division, each cluster should retain at least 5 connected pseudobulbs. Before division, reduce watering so that the potting soil is relatively dry.
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When potting after division, first cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with broken tile pieces, then lay coarse stones to a certain depth of the pot, then add coarse-grained soil and a small amount of fine soil, and then plant with sandy loam rich in humus. The planting depth should be such that the pseudobulbs are just buried in the soil. Leave a 2 cm rim at the edge of the pot, spread Selaginella uncinata or fine stones on top, water thoroughly, place in a shaded place for about half a month, keep the soil moist, gradually reduce watering, and then normal care can be carried out.
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Precautions for cultivating the lady's slipper orchid
During cultivation, pay attention to water and fertilizer management. Watering should follow the principle of “water when dry, stop when wet, and keep appropriately on the dry side.” Watering must be thorough, and half-watering must not be done. Farmyard manure is a very good organic fertilizer, but it must be piled and composted for more than one year before it can be applied. In addition, attention should also be paid to the prevention and control of common pests and diseases such as sheath rust fungus, southern blight and anthracnose.
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Plant culture of the lady's slipper orchid
The lady's slipper orchid is an orchid family plant. Through the ages, how many poets have praised orchids, and how many painters have depicted its touching moments. Chen Zi'ang praised the orchid, writing: “The years' splendor all falls and shakes, yet what becomes of the fragrance's intent?” Poets combined its purity with the perfection of human character, allowing orchid culture to be continually expanded and continued. Ancient dance dramas used “orchid steps” and “orchid fingers” as graceful movements, called excellent literary works and calligraphy works “orchid chapters,” called sincere friendship “orchid bonds,” and compared a person's purity and beauty to “orchid heart and orchid nature.” They also compared the death of an outstanding figure to “the orchid broken and the jade split.” All of these express love for orchid family plants.
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Editor's summary
The lady's slipper orchid has a graceful posture, a unique flower shape, and is elegant and fragrant; it can calm a restless heart, and its cute appearance like a little garlic bulb has also captured many people's hearts! That is all for today's introduction to it, and I hope everyone likes it!
Orchid Cymbidium orchid illustrated guide: how to grow orchids / how to propagate orchids
Orchid profileOrchid Cymbidium
Aliases: Huji flower, Chinese orchid, Zhilan
Classification: Orchid family flowers
Family and genus: Plantae, Angiosperms, Monocotyledons, Asparagales, Orchidaceae, Cymbidium
Full flowering period: all year round
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belongs to the orchid family, and is a monocotyledonous perennial herbaceous plant, also called Huji flower. Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids. The roots are long and tubular, and the leaves cluster from the stem, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 3 leaves forming a tuft. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. Orchids are flowers known for their fragrance and have the characteristics of purity and elegance. Famous people through the ages have rated them very highly, and they are compared to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to “orchid chapters,” the truth of friendship to “orchid bonds,” and good friends to “orchid guests.”...
Orchid cultivation methods and precautions, introduction to orchids
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belongs to the orchid family, and is a monocotyledonous perennial herbaceous plant, also called Huji flower. Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originate in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids. The roots are long and tubular, and the leaves cluster from the stem, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 3 leaves forming a tuft. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. Orchids are flowers known for their fragrance and have the characteristics of purity and elegance. Famous people through the ages have rated them very highly, and they are compared to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to “orchid chapters,” the truth of friendship to “orchid bonds,” and good friends to “orchid guests.”
Orchids are one of China's top ten famous flowers and are loved by everyone. They have a pleasant fragrance. “Beside the road, clumps of grass include orchids, not showing their heroic posture nor revealing their splendor; only when the subtle fragrance reaches the heart and lungs does one realize a rare flower is hidden in the garden.” This kind of orchid that gives off a subtle fragrance has always been favored by people.
The alluring and mysterious subtle fragrance of orchids cannot be compared with the fragrance of any other flower in the world. Whether it is the delicate fragrance of Cymbidium faberi, the strong fragrance of Cymbidium goeringii, the osmanthus-like fragrance of some Cymbidium ensifolium, or the sandalwood-like fragrance of some Cymbidium sinense, they all share one common characteristic: clear and subtle.
Orchids are often used for tea. Orchid tea has a jade-green color, visible silver tips, a clear liquor color and a mellow taste. It smells pleasantly of orchids and has a sweet aftertaste when drunk, and can stand alongside famous teas such as Huangshan Maofeng and Taiping Houkui. If you want to store orchids for a long time, you can cut the orchids, dry them, and mix them into tea leaves for later use. Take a small amount, pour in boiling water, steep briefly, and it is ready to drink. The floral fragrance of orchids comes from the volatile oils secreted by the aromatic oil glands in the column of the orchid flower. Due to the physiological action of the plant, the secretion of these volatile oils may be intermittent, so people feel the fragrance sometimes present and sometimes absent, faintly visible, or light or strong. The main chemical components of these volatile oils are mixtures of esters or lactones of organic compounds and terpenoid enols, enals and ketones.
Morphological characteristics of orchids
Orchids are perennial herbaceous plants. The roots are fleshy and enlarged, without root hairs, and have symbiotic fungi. They have pseudobulbs, commonly called reed heads, covered on the outside with leaf sheaths, often connected with multiple pseudobulbs and existing in rows at the same time. The leaves are linear or sword-shaped, leathery, upright or drooping. The flowers are solitary or in racemes, with many bracts borne on the pedicel. The flowers are bisexual and fragrant. The corolla is composed of 3 sepals, 3 petals and the column. The middle sepal is called the main petal. The lower 2 are side petals, and the extent to which the side petals spread is called the door. The upper 2 petals are upright, relatively thick and fleshy, with tips curling inward, commonly called the arms. Bilateral symmetry, the lip, pollinia and column are the basic characteristics of orchid family plants: the characteristic of pollen forming masses has some exceptions. Except for the Apostasioideae and Cypripedioideae, most other orchid family plants also have pollinia stalks. The ancients regarded “one stem with one flower as lan,” and one stem with many flowers as hui.
Spring orchids and Cymbidium faberi are divided according to differences and changes in the shape and texture of the main petal, side petals, arms and lip into plum petals, narcissus petals, lotus petals, butterfly petals, rare types and plain hearts, etc. Plum petals have short round sepals, relatively thick flesh, slightly inward-curving, narrow bases, short and hard lips, and fleshy thick arms with inward-curving tips forming a hood. When the flower first opens it tilts slightly upward. Famous varieties include Song Mei and Xishen Mei. Narcissus petals have sepals slightly longer than plum petals, with acuminate tips, thick arms also forming a hood at the tips, and lips slightly drooping or recurved. Famous varieties include Wang Zi and Cui Yipin. Tea petals have broad large sepals, thick texture, narrow bases, broad and abruptly pointed tips, arms not forming a hood, and relatively moist lips slightly recurved. Famous varieties include Da Fugui and Cuigai Hua.
Butterfly petals have inner sides of the two downward sepals with thickened texture, forming wavy wrinkles, and red patches. Sometimes the number of sepals or petals suddenly increases (such as Lüyun, whose corolla often has about 8 parts), or the flower shape has special changes. Plain heart means the perianth, flower stem and bracts are the same color, pure green, yellow-green, etc., without mixed-color markings or stripes. Famous precious varieties include Zhang He Su and Lao Wentuan Su.
Ecological habits of orchids
Orchids like shade, fear direct sunlight, like moisture, avoid dryness, and like fertile environments rich in humus with good air circulation. Therefore, the cultivation medium requires: good aeration, loose texture, good drainage, and slightly acidic. The most commonly used outdoor cultivation soil is mud flower soil. Climate and environment in different places can all affect the growth of orchids, so the choice of growing medium differs. For example, in southern Fujian, the weather is warmer in all four seasons and does not get too cold, so orchids grow quickly and are suitable for growing in small pebbles. First, it saves resources. Second, pebbles facilitate ventilation and do not retain water. Orchids grow well when relative air humidity is 60--70%; too dry or too wet can easily trigger orchid diseases.
Controlling water is the most fundamental condition for growing orchids well. Orchid leaves are relatively thick, with a cuticle on the surface for protection, so orchid leaves do not consume large amounts of water. The pseudobulbs and fleshy roots of orchids can store certain nutrients and water, so they are relatively drought tolerant. Except during the rooting and sprouting period and the rapid growth period, when more water is needed, at other times they consume less water. If there is too much water, causing water accumulation in the soil and blocking root respiration, root rot easily occurs. Too much water can also cause orchid leaf cell walls to become filled with water and leaf stomata to open, resulting in diluted nutrients, and further causing weak tissues, poor growth and disease. Orchids like rain but fear waterlogging, like moisture but fear wetness. Because air humidity differs in spring, summer, autumn and winter, orchid growth rates differ, and water requirements also differ. Accordingly, there is a saying that whether one can grow orchids mainly depends on whether one can water them.
Orchids like light feeding; fertilizing should preferably be light rather than strong. Like other plants, nitrogen can promote lush growth of stems and leaves. Phosphorus can promote well-developed orchid roots, promote robust development of reproductive organs, and spread stems and leaves. Magnesium, sulfur, iron and other trace elements can make leaves green and flowers strong. During the vigorous growth period, orchids should be fertilized more; during the dormant period or weak growth period, they may not be fertilized. If fertilized excessively, roots and leaves will be burned, causing irreparable loss.
Additionally, zhilan is a metaphor for fragrant grass.
Cultivation techniques for orchids
We Chinese have appreciated and cultivated orchids much earlier than the Western cultivation of Cattleya orchids. As early as the Spring and Autumn period 2,400 years ago, the Chinese cultural sage Confucius once said: “Zhilan grows in a secluded valley, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; a gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change integrity because of poverty.”
Lan, fragrant grass. -- Shuowen
Heng lan zhi ruo. -- Book of Han, Biography of Sima Xiangru
The root of lan huai is zhi. -- Xunzi, Encouraging Learning
The root of the Chinese orchid is baizhi, and baizhi symbolizes the common people. Huizhi has been the essence of the traditional virtues of benevolence, righteousness and civil governance since ancient times. The great Tang poet Li Bai wrote, “The secluded orchid's fragrant wind travels far, the hui grass's flowing fragrance roots.” Cymbidium faberi's roots are the people.
When cultivating, the divided orchid clusters should not be split too sparsely. Each cluster should have at least 3-5 shoots, and it is best to keep one-year-old plants, two-year-old plants and three-year-old plants in the same cluster.
Pot padding
Cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with a piece of tile, then gradually fill with bricks, tiles or shells, filling large gaps with mud granules or bean stones, generally about 1/2-1/3 of the pot's internal height. The remaining clear height above is about 10-15 cm, reserved as the cultivation soil layer. Its specific height should be determined according to the orchid species, the length of the orchid roots and the height of the pot. The padding should not be filled too densely; some pores should be retained. Practice has proved that some new roots can grow well in the pores of the padding layer.
Planting
On the padding layer, first fill in 2-3 cm of cultivation soil, press it lightly with your hand, then place the orchid upright on it. According to the size of the plant and pot, several single plants, 2 clusters, 3 clusters or more clusters can be planted in one pot. 3 clusters should be planted in a tripod arrangement. 4 clusters can be planted in a square, and 5 clusters should be arranged in a plum-blossom shape. The orchid roots should spread naturally, and the leaves should spread in all directions. Slowly place the orchid roots into the pot so that the orchid roots spread naturally and as much as possible do not rub against the inner wall of the pot. After the orchid plant is put into the pot, gradually fix the posture of the orchid plant. If one pot holds one cluster, the old pseudobulbs should be placed to one side so that new shoots have room to develop. If one pot holds several clusters, the old pseudobulbs of each cluster should be relatively gathered toward the middle of the pot, so that new roots and new shoots developing outward each have enough space.
Filling soil
When planting, hold the leaves with one hand and add nutrient soil with the other, hold the base of the orchid plant and lift it slightly upward to spread the root system, while shaking the orchid pot. Let the cultivation soil go deep into the root zone; continue adding soil, and shake the orchid pot to adjust the position and height of the orchid plant. Press along the edge of the pot with your hand, but never too heavily or the roots will be damaged. Continue adding soil and pressing until the soil surface is 2-3 cm above the pot rim, slightly in a steamed bun shape. The cultivation soil should cover all orchid roots and reach the base of the pseudobulbs. As for the depth of filling soil, tradition holds that: spring orchids should be shallow and Cymbidium faberi should be deep, but generally the standard is not to bury the leaf bases on the pseudobulbs. When newly sprouted orchids grow in the wild, the plants leave obvious markers above and below the soil surface, and these markers can be used as the standard. The size of the flower pot should also match the size and number of the plants; do not have a large pot with few small plants, nor a small pot with many large plants. Generally, the number of plants should be based on the principle that the pot will just be full after 2-3 years. The size of the plant should match the height of the pot. This is conducive to both growth and ornamental requirements.
Top dressing
After planting is completed, spread a layer of small stone granules or green moss on the surface of the potting soil, preferably high-quality moss from under a forest. It is both beautiful and can regulate moisture. It can also protect the leaf surface from being polluted by muddy water, and new shoots will not easily rot at the heart from infection by pathogens in the soil; in addition, it can slow the washing effect of rainwater on the potting soil and keep the potting soil loose.
Watering
After planting is completed, water the first time immediately, and the potting soil must be soaked through. The water droplets should be small, and the impact force should not be strong. If placing it in a water basin to soak, never soak for too long. Once the potting soil is soaked, immediately take the orchid pot out, then move it to a shaded place for care.
Watering orchid plants should be based on various natural factors that affect transpiration of the orchid plant, such as humidity, temperature, light, wind, season and weather, so as to make different water management measures.
First, look at humidity. If air humidity is low and transpiration is strong, water more; conversely, if air humidity is high or even saturated and transpiration almost stops, water less or even do not water.
Second, look at temperature. When the temperature is high, transpiration speeds up, water demand is large, and watering frequency should increase accordingly; conversely, when the temperature is low, water molecules move slowly and diffusion is weak, so less water is needed.
Third, look at light. When light is strong, transpiration speeds up, accelerating water molecule diffusion, and more water is needed; conversely, less water is needed. Therefore, with different light and different shading levels, water management also differs: those receiving more sun should be watered more, and those facing away from the sun should be watered less.
Fourth, look at wind. Strong wind makes water evaporate quickly; weak wind makes water evaporate slowly; dry southwest wind will strengthen evaporation, while on the contrary moist southeast wind will relatively weaken transpiration; orchid pots placed in a wind inlet receive more wind and evaporate water quickly, while orchid pots in leeward places receive less wind and evaporate water slowly.
Fifth, look at the season. Different seasons have different temperatures, humidity and light, and the transpiration of orchid plants also differs greatly. In the hot, dry summer, water more; in the plum rain season, water less or not at all; in the low-temperature, cold, overcast winter, do not water; in early spring when the temperature is relatively low, water less; in late spring when the climate is mild and it is the sprouting period, water more; in the dry autumn, water more.
Sixth, look at the weather. Natural weather changes unpredictably, and different weather has different light, temperature and humidity, and orchid plant transpiration also varies greatly. The basic practice is: water more on sunny days, water less on cloudy days, no need to water much when rain is imminent, and do not water on rainy (snowy) days.
Test-tube cultivation
With the continuous development of orchid tissue culture techniques and aseptic sowing techniques, the phenomenon of orchids flowering in test tubes is receiving increasing attention. The main reason this phenomenon attracts the attention of breeders is that artificial hybrid new varieties that originally required many years of conventional cultivation to flower can, in test tubes, be artificially induced to flower through 1-2 culture cycles. In this way, individuals with excellent traits can be selected purposefully according to flowering conditions, and relatively poor individuals can be eliminated, thereby shortening the entire breeding cycle and greatly reducing the workload of cultivating large numbers of varieties that have not yet flowered, making breeding work more targeted.
Because we have long been engaged in the development and research of several conventionally cultivated terrestrial orchid species in the genus Cymbidium, the orchids mentioned below all refer to these orchid species, including Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum, Cymbidium tortisepalum, Cymbidium faberi and Cymbidium kanran.
According to observation results, the ways orchids flower in test tubes can be roughly divided into three types. The first type is that the axillary buds of orchid seedlings develop into flower buds. This way is the same as the flowering way of orchids in conventional cultivation, except that in conventional cultivation it is a cluster of seedlings that produces flowers, while in test tubes it is a single seedling that produces flowers. This situation is relatively common in Cymbidium ensifolium and relatively rare in varieties such as Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum. The second type is that the terminal buds of orchid seedlings develop into flower buds, similar to what is usually called an arrow in the grass (grass-heart arrow). The flower grows from the very center of the orchid seedling. This situation appears in all orchid species, especially commonly in Cymbidium goeringii. The third type is that flower buds differentiate directly from the apex of protocorms. This type is completely controlled by hormone levels in the medium, flowers quickly and uniformly, and has a high differentiation frequency, and is the main method of inducing flowering.
Another convenience brought by orchids flowering in test tubes is that it makes in-bottle hybridization of orchids possible, which is a completely new applied research field. Some breeding work requires repeated hybridization, backcrossing and selfing to achieve breeding goals and select excellent new varieties. For example, in the hybridization of plain-heart varieties and plum-petal varieties, the first filial generation is usually plum-petal but definitely not plain-heart. This requires backcrossing the first filial generation once with the plain-heart parent, or selfing the first filial generation once, and then selecting plain-heart plum-petal from the second filial generation. Using conventional methods, this process would definitely take more than ten years. Now, with a method to promote orchids to flower in test tubes, we can let the first filial generation flower in test tubes, and carry out self-pollination in test tubes or mutual pollination between first filial generation plants, and cultivate seeds. These seeds do not need disinfection and can be directly sown on the medium to obtain the second filial generation, and then flowering can be induced, so the desired variety can be selected from the second filial generation. Compared with conventional methods, this process can save at least two cultivation cycles from bottle seedlings to flowering.
Propagation methods for orchids
Orchids are commonly propagated by division, sowing and tissue culture.
Division propagation: This can be carried out in both spring and autumn, generally once every three years. Any plant that grows vigorously and has dense pseudobulbs can be divided. After division, each cluster should retain at least 5 connected pseudobulbs. Before division, reduce watering so that the potting soil is relatively dry. When potting after division, first cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with broken tile pieces, then lay coarse stones to 1/5-1/4 of the pot depth, then add coarse-grained soil and a small amount of fine soil, and then plant with sandy loam rich in humus. The planting depth should be such that the pseudobulbs are just buried in the soil. Leave a 2 cm rim at the edge of the pot, spread Selaginella uncinata or fine stones on top, and finally water thoroughly, place in a shaded place for 10-15 days, keep the soil moist, gradually reduce watering, and carry out normal care.
Sowing propagation: Orchid seeds are extremely fine. Inside the seed there is only one incompletely developed embryo, and germination capacity is very low. In addition, the seed coat does not easily absorb water, so sowing by conventional methods cannot germinate. Therefore, orchid fungi or artificial medium are needed to supply nutrients for germination. For sowing, it is best to choose fruits that have not yet split. After sterilizing the surface with 75% alcohol, take out the seeds, soak them in 10% sodium hypochlorite for 5-10 minutes, take them out and rinse them 3 times with sterile water, then sow them in culture bottles containing medium, then place them in a dark culture room and keep the temperature at about 25°C. After germination begins, move them into the light and they can form protocorms. From sowing to transplanting takes half a year to one year. Tissue culture has already been successful, and places with conditions can use this method for propagation.
Propagation techniques
Site selection: The surroundings should be open, well ventilated, close to water surfaces, with moist air and no coal smoke pollution. On the southwest side of the site, evergreen broad-leaved trees can be planted, with a canopy density of about 0.7, which can reduce afternoon sunlight exposure and regulate humidity and temperature.
Watering: Rainwater or spring water is preferable. Do not use water containing salt and alkali. If using tap water, let the water stand for several days before use. Watering should depend on temperature conditions. In spring, the amount of watering should be small, and in summer it should be more; in the plum rain season, when orchids are sprouting leaf buds, the potting soil should be slightly dry; after autumn when the weather turns cool, reduce the amount of watering and just keep it moist. In winter indoors it should be dry, reduce watering frequency, and it is best to water at noon. Orchids can be exposed to light rain, but continuous rain or heavy rain can easily cause heart rot and leaf rot, so attention must be paid to rain protection.
Fertilizing: For growing orchids, cake fertilizer is suitable. Mix 4 parts plant ash, 10 parts bean cake and 10 parts bone meal evenly, put them in a jar, add water several times until the bean cake is soaked, then cover and seal, compost for one year, and then make into dry granules. When using, place it on the pot surface. If using whole manure, it should also be composted for one year, diluted with water and filtered before use. Generally, start fertilizing from May and stop fertilizing at the Beginning of Autumn, applying light fertilizer frequently. Fertilizing should be done in the evening, and the next morning water once with clear water.
Shading and cold protection: Except in early spring and winter, orchids should be placed under open-air sheds. The shade shed requires good ventilation. When orchids first come out of the room in March-April, they can get more sun, and afterward the shading time gradually increases. In winter, orchids must be moved indoors to protect against cold, and the room temperature should be kept at 1-2°C. In addition, after orchids come out in spring and before they enter the room in autumn, attention should be paid to frost protection.
Precautions
Wounds must be protected from bacteria -- when repotting or dividing, if the roots have wounds, first apply fungicide to the wounds to prevent pathogens from invading.
Do not use too large a pot -- planting small plants in a large pot uses more medium, easily leading to poor ventilation, and watering is also harder to control. If too much water is absorbed, the medium is not easy to dry, and bacteria invade and cause root rot.
Orchids should be planted shallowly -- orchid plants should not be planted too deep, otherwise long-term moisture will cause rot. When planting, fill the medium around the roots, and the base or pseudobulbs must be exposed.
Roots should be spread out -- when planting orchids, the roots should be spread evenly and not squeezed together, so that each root can contact the medium and ventilation is also better.
Do not water for several days -- newly planted orchids may have injured roots. After the wounds are coated with fungicide, do not water for 3-5 days. Only then can the fungicide take effect, and it can also promote the growth of new shoots and new roots.
Avoid strong light -- newly planted orchids must avoid direct strong light to prevent dehydration. They should be placed in a warm and shaded place, and spraying can be used to increase air humidity until the orchids recover normal growth.
Leaves turning yellow
This is generally root rot or hollow roots. It is necessary to improve watering and change environmental humidity and light intensity.
Another reason orchid leaves turn yellow is normal grass decline, because it is exactly the sprouting time, and with metabolism, nutrients cannot keep up, so old seedlings retreat and leave nutrients for new seedlings to grow. However, other reasons cannot be ruled out, such as root rot, soft rot and stem rot. These should be observed frequently, and once found must be handled decisively, otherwise the whole plant may be lost.
Distribution and collection
Collecting wild orchids in the mountains is of great significance for discovering new varieties and selecting excellent hybrid parents. During collection, consideration should be given to choosing the flowering period, improving the survival rate, the local climate and the local orchid soil's dryness and moisture. Factors such as different growing environments in different places should also be considered. At the same time, work should be done well in paying attention to safety, fire prevention, not mistakenly entering restricted areas, and keeping collection records.
In the process of orchid cultivation and business, due to crazy speculation by orchid merchants on some novel orchid varieties, orchid prices once rose abnormally, and “sky-high orchids” kept appearing. Driven by huge economic interests, large-scale destructive collection of wild orchid resources appeared, and many wild orchid habitats were extremely damaged. For this reason, the state adopted protective measures such as establishing no-collection protected areas, establishing variety protection levels, improving legislation on wild resources, and strictly punishing illegal collectors.
From the perspective of long-term and effective use of orchid resources and respect for and advocacy of environmental protection, orchid enthusiasts should establish a scientific, reasonable, environmentally friendly and law-abiding awareness of orchid collection.
City flower of Guiyang, city flower of Shaoxing, and provincial flower of Zhejiang. During the Republic of China period, the Nanjing Special Municipal Government issued an order making the orchid the city flower of Nanjing.
Cold regions
If people in northern regions want to grow orchids well, they should try their best to create environmental conditions suitable for their growth and development and meet the requirements of the orchid's biological characteristics, so that they can grow and flower well. Specifically, the following tasks should be done well.
1. Choose good pots and cultivation soil
For ordinary household orchid growing, it is better to choose clay pots. If increasing beauty for decorative effect, a colored-glazed porcelain pot can be placed outside the clay pot. The size of the pot should be such that the orchid roots can fully spread out inside the pot. For potting soil, orchid soil is best. It can also be mixed yourself. You can use 6 parts leaf mold or peat soil, 3 parts sandy soil and 1 part cake fertilizer, or mix 5 parts leaf mold, 3 parts compost soil and 2 parts coarse sand evenly. For potting methods, see: Common knowledge for purchasing orchids and cultivation techniques.
2. Apply light fertilizer skillfully
When fertilizing orchids, apply light fertilizer, and never apply strong fertilizer. There is a saying: “Clear orchids, turbid jasmine.” Newly planted orchid plants should not be fertilized in the first year; start fertilizing after Qingming in the second year until the Beginning of Autumn. Apply fully decomposed dilute cake fertilizer water 1-2 times a month. Because orchids have fleshy roots, never apply undecomposed fertilizer, to avoid root rot. Before each fertilization, control water for 1-2 days, and apply after the potting soil is slightly dry. On the morning of the second day after application, water once to prevent unclean matter in the fertilizer liquid from contaminating the root system and harming orchid roots. When applying liquid fertilizer, take care to avoid splashing and staining the leaves. For orchid plants that have been cultivated for several years and have reached flowering age, in the early stage mainly apply nitrogen fertilizer to promote new shoot sprouting and rapid growth; in the later stage mainly apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, which helps pseudobulbs enlarge, leaves become wide and thick, and provides enough nutrients for flower bud differentiation. Specifically, before flower bud differentiation each autumn, it is suitable to apply two consecutive liquid fertilizers mainly based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer; during the bud gestation period, on a clear evening first wash the leaves with clear water, and after they dry, use a small sprayer to spray 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaf surface and underside, or apply plant ash water to the roots. At this time, foliar fertilization is beneficial for promoting the development of orchid roots, stems and flowers. Do not fertilize on cloudy and rainy days, and stop fertilizing during the winter dormant period. About 20 days after the flowers fade, apply two more liquid fertilizers mainly based on nitrogen fertilizer or compound chemical fertilizer, which can promote plant growth. [6]
3. Light should be suitable
Orchids like shaded, cool environments and fear direct sunlight. Therefore, in the north from April to early May, before 9 a.m. they can appropriately get more sunlight. After mid-May, shading is needed, and at this time they should be placed in a cool, ventilated place for cultivation. In winter, place them near a south window to receive more light, so as to enhance their vitality and promote flower bud differentiation. Especially for Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium kanran, which bloom in winter, they should be placed indoors in a sunny place in winter; without light they will not flower well. [6] In short, growing orchids should achieve “not going out in spring, no sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter.” This means in spring avoid cold wind invasion and do not move them outdoors; in summer they fear direct sunlight and should be placed in a cool, ventilated place; in autumn avoid dry potting soil, because this is the orchid's bud gestation period and watering should be appropriately increased; in winter they are in a dormant state, and too much water easily causes root rot, so the principle is alternating dry and wet.
Orchid disease control. The main pests and diseases of orchids include：
Southern blight: Mostly occurs in the plum rain season. Attention should be paid to ventilation and light transmission, and good pot soil drainage for prevention. After onset, remove the infected potting soil and sprinkle pentachloronitrobenzene powder or lime.
Anthracnose: Present all year round, and more rampant in hot, rainy seasons. In addition to improving environmental conditions, during the disease period first spray with 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 800-1500 times solution, once every 7-10 days, then supplement with 1% Bordeaux mixture of equal amounts, once every half month.
Scale insects: They reproduce fastest under high temperature, high humidity and poor air circulation. Use conventional methods for control.
Root rot is also called nematode disease. Nematodes parasitize orchid roots, causing root rot, poor growth of aboveground leaves, leaf color fading and yellowing, and even plant wilting. Nematode damage causes large numbers of wounds and also causes infection by other soil-borne pathogens, leading to plant disease and accelerated plant death. The cultivation medium should be disinfected, and 100°C steam sterilization can be used to kill eggs. In severe cases, repot immediately, soak the diseased plant in the medicinal solution for 20-30 minutes, take it out to dry, and replant with new medium.
In summary, to grow orchids well, one must master their natural growing environment conditions, take reasonable measures, and strengthen care and management. According to the “Orchid Growing Formula”: “Not going out in spring, no sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter.” This is a summary of China's orchid-growing experience.
Pollution-free methods for preventing and controlling pests and diseases：
Below are some small folk prescriptions passed down among the people for pollution-free prevention and control of orchid pests and diseases. “Small” prescriptions can often solve “big” problems, and orchid enthusiasts might as well give them a try.
1. Tea seed cake
Tea seed cake, also known as tea bran or tea seed cake, is the residue left after oil is pressed from tea seeds, and farmers often use it for washing clothes. Tea seed cake contains saponins and glycosides; its water extract is alkaline and has strong stomach-poison and contact-killing effects on pests.
Control methods:
Soak crushed tea seed cake powder and boiling water at a ratio of 1:5 for a day and a night, then pour it over the orchid pots, and also pour it over the area where the orchid pots are placed and other orchid pots; it has a good control effect on snails.
Spraying orchid plants with tea seed cake water gives very good control of aphids and red spider mites, reaching over 90%.
Tea seed cake water can also kill earthworms. Pour tea seed cake water through the potting soil, and after a short while the earthworms will come out to the soil surface; pick them out and remove them. Opinions differ in orchid-growing circles on whether earthworms are beneficial or harmful to orchids. One view holds that earthworms in the pot damage some orchid mycelium when they move about and injure the root tips of orchid roots, so they are pests and must be removed. Another view holds that earthworms in orchid pots can eat much of the decaying material and rotted orchid roots in the pot, that their activity helps loosen the soil, and that their droppings can serve as fertilizer for orchids, so their benefits outweigh their harm and there is no need to kill them. Which is right and which is wrong remains for orchid enthusiasts to weigh the pros and cons and make their own judgment based on their own practical observation.
Two, strong-smelling vegetables (scallions, garlic, chives, ginger, onions, etc.)
Strong-smelling vegetables each have their own distinctive odor, and their smell can play a role in killing insects and sterilizing.
Control methods:
Take 25 g of garlic, crush it and squeeze out the juice, dilute it in 10 L of water, and immediately spray the orchid plants; it can control aphids, red spider mites, scale insects and gray mold. Press peeled garlic into small pieces and place them at equal distances on the surface soil of the orchid pot; after a few days earthworms and ants will be gone.
Soak chopped scallions and water at a ratio of 1:30 for a day and a night, then filter; use the liquid to spray orchid plants several times a day for several consecutive days. It has good effects on controlling aphids and soft-bodied pests and on preventing and controlling powdery mildew.
Take 1 jin of ginger, add half a jin of water, crush and extract the juice, add 6 jin of water to each jin of juice, and spray the orchid plants; it can control aphids.
Mix chive juice and clean water at a ratio of 1:60, use it to spray orchid plants twice a day for several consecutive days; it can cure black spot disease.
Take 15 g of chopped onion bulbs, place them in 2 jin of water, seal and soak for 7 hours, then filter; use the filtrate to spray orchid plants; it can control red spider mites and aphids.
Three, cigarette butts
Tobacco leaves contain about 3% nicotine. Nicotine has a strong contact-killing and stomach-poison effect on pests. Take about 20 smoked cigarette butts and one portion of quicklime, add water, stir, soak and filter, then add 30 portions of water; use it to spray orchid plants, potting soil and the bottom of pots; it can eliminate ants and other pests without a waxy coating on their bodies.
Four, laundry powder and detergent
Laundry powder can dissolve the corneal layer of scale insects while forming a layer of foam that wraps around the insect body, causing the scale insects to suffocate to death. Laundry powder solution can prevent and control some diseases and pests.
Control methods:
Dissolve a small amount of laundry powder in warm water, then dilute with water to a 1000-fold solution and spray orchid plants; it can kill aphids, whiteflies and red spider mites. Dilute to a 600-fold solution and spray once every three days for three consecutive sprays; all scale insects will die.
Mix pig bile and clean water at a ratio of 1:100, add a small amount of laundry powder, and use it to spray orchid plants; it can prevent and control anthracnose and soft rot. After spraying orchid plants with laundry powder solution, once the pests are dead, the leaves must be rinsed several times with clean water so that the orchid plants grow normally.
Five, white liquor
Mix white liquor and water at a ratio of 1:2 and spray orchid plants once a week for three consecutive sprays; it can kill scale insects.
Six, citrus peel
Place citrus peel at the bottom of the pot; it can prevent ants and other pests from entering the potting soil to harm orchids. Citrus peel can also be cut into small pieces and scattered on the surface of the potting soil without watering for a few days; it can control aphids, scale insects and others.
Seven, brown sugar
Mix powdered brown sugar and boiling water at a ratio of 1:100; after it cools, use the brown sugar liquid to spray orchid plants once every 3 days for three consecutive sprays; it has a good effect on preventing and controlling downy mildew, powdery mildew, black spot disease and leaf blight.
Eight, diesel oil
Mix diesel oil and water at a ratio of 1:60 into an emulsion, then dilute it with 100 times water and spray orchid plants; it can control scale insects and others.
Nine, plant ash
Soak plant ash and water at a ratio of 1:50 for two days and nights, then filter; use the filtrate to spray orchid plants; it can both control aphids and increase potassium fertilizer.
Ten, vinegar
Mix vinegar and clean water at a ratio of 1:8, and use it to evenly spray the front and back of orchid leaves; it can control scale insects. If the scale insects have already become adults, the acidity of the mixed liquid can be slightly increased, spraying once every three days for three consecutive sprays, and the adult scale insects can be killed. Spraying vinegar liquid on the leaf surface can also eliminate black spot disease, powdery mildew, leaf spot disease, yellowing disease and others. Industrial vinegar must not be used.
Orchid cultivation methods: spring care
Spring has more overcast and rainy weather, temperatures change greatly, and cold waves easily occur. If orchids are not well cared for and managed, root rot and bud rot can occur, seriously affecting their normal growth.
Household balcony-type orchid-growing sites should have cold-proof and rain-proof facilities. Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium goeringii must be placed indoors for protection and management; Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran and others can be placed outdoors, but attention must be paid to drainage and moisture protection for the orchid pots. It is best to set up plastic film above the orchid pots to shelter them from rain, pulling it open when clear and covering it when rainy, to prevent invasion by cold wind, cold rain, frost and snow.
Orchid growing should always ensure good ventilation. Orchid seedlings in greenhouses and warm sheds should have exhaust fans installed to replace the air and regulate humidity. Ordinary simple warm sheds and low ground-planted sheds covered with plastic film for freeze protection and rain shelter should also have windows opened frequently or part of the film lifted to allow air convection, so as to ensure fresh air and moderate temperature inside the shed.
After the Spring Festival, cut off the flower stems of Cymbidium sinense and others, and do not let them set seed. Use 0.1% omethoate or dichlorvos solution to gently wipe the upper and lower surfaces of orchid leaves, and use sterilizing agents and insecticidal agents to spray the balcony, the surrounding area of the site and the potted orchids once every 7 days and 10 days respectively. Two hours after using the insecticidal agents, spray the leaf surfaces of the potted orchids once with clean water to remove residual pesticide.
Before dividing orchid pots, stop watering for 3-5 days. When the potting medium is about 70-80% dry, carefully pour out the orchid plants and medium, trying as much as possible not to break the orchid roots. Wash them clean with disinfectant water or clean water and let them dry until the orchid roots become soft and whitish, then repot. Use sterile new medium for repotting, with the roots in contact with the medium, new plants facing outward and old plants facing inward, and the orchid crown exposed one third above the soil surface. After planting, place in a shaded shed and mist the leaf surfaces morning and evening; after 24 hours water thoroughly to settle the roots, and after 15 days move to normal management.
For orchids planted in new medium, apply a light, thin fertilizer once every half month to one month. During the large-seedling and strong-seedling stage, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied frequently, once every three to five days. Rejuvenated orchids can go from fertilizing once every half month to once a week, depending on whether the orchids can absorb it. Weak plants, rootless plants and leafless pseudobulbs, however, absolutely need only maintenance and must not be given additional fertilizer; otherwise, haste makes waste and they will instead suffer harm.
Orchid distribution regions
Orchids are world-famous flowers. Chinese orchids have more than 15,000 varieties. In Asia, Chinese cymbidium is Cymbidium faberi; in Oceania and Africa most are Cymbidium; Singapore has Vanda; Finland has lily of the valley; Yugoslavia has lily of the valley; Seychelles has Yucca; Zimbabwe has Gloriosa; South American countries have designated national orchids: Brazil has Cattleya, Costa Rica has Cattleya. Ecuador and Guatemala both have Cattleya, Colombia has Cattleya, and Ecuador has white orchid.
Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originated in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids and are ranked first among China's ten famous flowers. In China, apart from North China, Northeast China, and Ningxia, Qinghai and ** in the Northwest, every province and region has different species of Cymbidium plants. Generally speaking, terrestrial orchids mostly grow in temperate and subtropical regions, such as Jiangsu and Anhui; epiphytic orchids mostly grow in tropical and subtropical regions, such as Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan, China.
Chinese orchids are mainly divided into seven major categories: Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium tortisepalum and Cymbidium lianpan, with thousands of horticultural varieties.
Cymbidium goeringii is also known as grass orchid and mountain orchid. Cymbidium goeringii is widely distributed and rich in resources. Its flowering period is February to March of the year and can last about 1 month. The flowers have a rich, pure fragrance. Famous precious varieties include lotus, plum, narcissus, butterfly and other petal types in various colors. In terms of petal type, the famous varieties from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most typical.
Cymbidium faberi has thick and long roots, narrow strap-shaped leaves, relatively rough and hard texture, grayish green color, obvious serrations on the leaf margins and prominent midribs. Its flowering period is March to May. The flowers have a strong fragrance that spreads far and lasts long. Flower colors include yellow, white, green, light red and multi-colored; most are colored flowers, and there are also plain flowers and butterfly flowers.
Cymbidium ensifolium is also called four-season orchid, including summer orchid and autumn orchid that bloom in summer. Four-season orchid is robust and upright, with green leaves and abundant flowers, strong fragrance and beautiful blooms; it fears neither heat nor cold, has strong vitality and is easy to cultivate. Different varieties have different flowering periods, and flowers can be seen from May to December.
Cymbidium sinense, also known as New Year orchid, bowing-to-the-year orchid and abundant-year orchid, is native to China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Taiwan, China, Hainan and other places. Orchid growers throughout southern China, especially in Guangdong and Yunnan, most enjoy cultivating and viewing it.
Cymbidium tortisepalum is often called authentic Sichuan orchid. Although Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan all have famous varieties, the famous Sichuan orchid varieties are the most precious. Flower colors include red, yellow, white, green, purple, black and multi-colored, gorgeous and dazzling, with graceful bearing, elegant charm, rich fragrance and pure scent; it is often the first choice praised by orchid growers.
Cymbidium kanran is distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and the southwestern regions of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. The leaves of Cymbidium kanran are narrower and longer than those of four-season orchid, especially at the leaf base, and the leaf posture is elegant and unrestrained, emerald green and delicate. There are varieties with large, medium and fine leaves and with bordered edges. Flower colors are rich, including yellow, green, purplish red and deep purple; they generally have variegated veins and spots, and there are also clean, flawless plain flowers. The sepals and petals are relatively narrow and fine, with a distinctive style, delicate and lovely, with an intoxicating fragrance.
Orchid variety classification
Variety identification is an appraisal of the overall quality of orchids and is a field of learning that best demonstrates orchid-growing skill. Therefore, orchid masters of past generations have all been especially cautious about it, never drawing conclusions rashly, and always adhering to the "three looks" principle.
Leaf shape
In seasons without flowers, the main basis for identifying famous orchid varieties is looking at leaf shape, including leaf buds and plant form. The color of orchid buds when they emerge from the soil has a certain reference value for appreciating orchid varieties, and the bud stage requires careful observation. Generally speaking, if new buds are white, white-green or green, Cymbidium goeringii is generally a plain-heart variety, and Cymbidium faberi is mostly plain-heart or green Cymbidium faberi; if the bud tip has a white rice-grain-like "white peak," it may produce fine flowers.
Flower buds
Traditional famous orchid varieties not only have their own characteristics in leaf shape, but their flower buds are also full of distinctive features.
Therefore, when identifying, people should look at both leaf shape and flower buds. Regarding the identification of flower buds, predecessors summarized the "nine shapes and eight forms" of Cymbidium and Cymbidium faberi head shapes and the "five gates and eight forms" of Cymbidium faberi small bud arrangement. These valuable experiences are of great benefit to us in identifying varieties and are worth thoroughly digesting and absorbing.
All things develop and change. In orchid-growing practice, people have found that even for the same pot of orchids, the color of the flower buds sometimes differs in different years, and even within the same year. I have experienced this. After many years of observation, the flower buds of famous orchid and Cymbidium faberi varieties I cultivate, such as Dafugui and Yuanzi, sometimes differ in different years; in some years the flower buds are darker in color, and in some years lighter.
Bloom quality
The most direct and effective way to identify Cymbidium and Cymbidium faberi varieties is to look at their bloom quality, which is also the main reason why introduced varieties must be selected after seeing the flowers. Generally speaking, as long as the bloom quality is up to standard, the variety can be identified once the flower is seen. But everything has its particularity; the same Cymbidium or Cymbidium faberi variety often produces different bloom quality depending on the cultivation method.
Special varieties
[Shaoxing orchid]
Shaoxing is one of the earliest places in China where orchids were planted and has long been called the "hometown of orchids." The Southern Song Dynasty Baoqing-era "Kuaiji Xu Zhi" records: "Lan, the Yuejue Shu says: Goujian planted orchids at Lanzhu Mountain. The old classic says: Lanzhu Mountain is the place where Goujian planted orchids." Lanzhu Mountain is in present-day Lanzhu and Lanting, and is still famous at home and abroad for its abundant Cymbidium goeringii. Shaoxing orchids are numerous in variety, and their flower shapes, colors and fragrances are all unique. With one branch in a room, a clear fragrance fills the air and refreshes the heart.
The Ming Dynasty painter and calligrapher Xu Wei wrote in his poem "Orchid": "Do not be surprised that spring light does not belong to you; one fragrance is enough to surpass a thousand reds. Even if the fragrance is picked for Han Niang's sleeve, it does not make the musk wind of the mortal world." Traditional famous orchid varieties such as "Song Mei," "Lou Mei," "Huanqiu Hedin" and "Zan Die" all come from Shaoxing. Shaoxing's rare variety "Lüyun" is a national-level protected rare resource. In 1959, a rare-petaled famous Shaoxing orchid was named "Zhongshan Hudie He" by Beijing Zhongshan Park. In 1982, the Standing Committee of the Shaoxing Municipal People's Congress designated the orchid as the city flower of Shaoxing and established the Shaoxing Orchid Association, the first orchid association in the country.
[Chinese orchid Cymbidium faberi]
Chinese orchid Cymbidium faberi usually refers to a portion of terrestrial species in the genus Cymbidium. The pseudobulbs are relatively small, the leaves are linear, and the roots are fleshy; the flower stem is upright, with 1 to more than 10 flowers, the flowers are small and fragrant, usually light green with purplish red spots. Different species vary greatly in leaf and flower morphology and flowering period. It is produced south of the Qinling Mountains and in the southwestern region. Its cultivation history is long, at least more than a thousand years, and it is one of China's ten traditional famous flowers. Since ancient times, people have regarded orchids as a symbol of nobility, elegance, patriotism and unyielding integrity.
This has formed an orchid culture with strong Chinese national characteristics. It is propagated by division, sowing or tissue culture. Pot cultivation with humus soil requires good aeration and drainage; it likes a semi-shaded and moist environment. The overwintering temperature for Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium ensifolium and Cymbidium kanran is about 10°C, and for the other species about 5°C. What is called Chinese orchid today was called "hui" in ancient times. Just as Huang Tingjian of the Northern Song Dynasty (1045-1105) described orchids in "Youfang Ting": "One stem with one flower and surplus fragrance is lan; one stem with five or seven flowers and insufficient fragrance is hui."
[Chinese orchid]
Confucius, in "Kongzi Jiayu: Zai E": "Angelica and orchids grow in the forest, and do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; the gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of poverty." The Song Dynasty was the peak period in China's orchid-growing history, with many books and descriptions related to orchid cultivation. For example, Luo Yuan of the Song Dynasty wrote in "Erya Yi" that "the leaves of the orchid are like sedge, and it sprouts in early spring.
The flowers are very fragrant, mostly growing in forests; when a gentle breeze passes, their fragrance rises abundantly and reaches outside, hence it is called angelica orchid. Orchids in Jiangnan bloom only in spring, while those in Jingchu and Minzhong bloom again in autumn and summer." The "Jinzhang Lanpu," written by Zhao Shigeng of the Southern Song Dynasty in 1233, can be said to be the earliest extant work in China devoted to the study of orchids, and also the world's first monograph on orchids. The whole book is divided into three volumes and five parts, briefly describing the morphological characteristics of more than 30 varieties of purple orchids (mainly Cymbidium sinense) and white orchids (that is, plain-heart Cymbidium ensifolium), and discussing the grade of orchids. After "Jinzhang Lanpu," Wang Guixue wrote "Wangshi Lanpu" in 1247, which gave detailed descriptions of more than 30 orchid varieties.
In addition, the Song Dynasty also had "Lanpu Aofa," which mainly describes cultivation methods and is divided into seven parts: division and planting methods, flower planting methods, placement and watering methods, watering methods, flower-planting fertilizer and soil methods, ant and louse removal methods, and miscellaneous methods. As for the book "Zhongyi Biyong" by Wu Zan, it also introduced orchid cultivation. In 1256, "Quanfang Beizu" by Chen Jingyi gave a relatively detailed account of orchids; the complete printed edition of this book was collected in the Japanese Imperial Palace Library, and in 1979 Japan returned a photocopy to China. In the Song Dynasty, works using orchids as a subject in Chinese painting included "Spring Orchid Picture" painted by Zhao Mengjian, which is considered the earliest surviving famous orchid painting and is now treasured in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, orchid cultivation entered a prosperous period. As orchid varieties continuously increased and cultivation experience became increasingly rich, orchid cultivation had become an object of public appreciation. At this time there were relatively many books describing orchids, painting albums, poetic lines and orchid patterns printed on porcelain and handicrafts, such as Zhang Yingmin's "Luoli Zhai Lanpu" of the Ming Dynasty and the orchid-related records in Gao Lian's "Zunsheng Bajian."
The Ming Dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" gave a relatively complete discussion of orchid nomenclature, categories and uses. The Qing Dynasty also produced many monographs on orchid cultivation, such as the 1805 "Lanhui Tongxin Lu," written by a Mr. Xu of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, who was addicted to orchids and also good at painting them, with rich experience in orchid cultivation. The book is divided into two volumes; volume one discusses knowledge of orchid cultivation, and volume two describes methods for identifying and classifying orchid varieties. The whole book records 57 varieties and includes his line drawings. Others such as Yuan Shijun's "Lanyan Shulüe," Du Wenlan's "Yilan Si Shuo," Mao Xiang's "Lanyan," Zhu Kerou's "Di Yi Xiang Biji," Tu Yongning's "Lanhui Jing," Zhang Guangzhao's "Xinglan Pu Lüe," Yue Liang's "Yanglan Shuo," Wang Hao's "Guang Qunfang Pu," Wu Qijun's "Zhiwu Ming Shi Tu Kao," and the late Qing Oujin Ce's "Linghai Lanyan" still have certain reference value today.
Orchid medicinal food or medicinal value
The medical information and health medicinal food information on Huhuawang are for reference only and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis or medical treatment. Any health problem should be consulted with professional medical staff, and treatment of any disease should follow medical advice.
Ultimate flower-protecting task: love yourself, start from reality, and strictly follow medical advice. For illness, do not be careless, do not delay, do not give up hope; face it bravely, use love to warm the silent world, and use your heart to care for the flower field within.
Medicinal value
According to records, the roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. The roots can treat pulmonary tuberculosis, lung abscess and sprains, and can also set bones; the roots of Cymbidium ensifolium decocted in soup are said to be an excellent medicine for inducing labor. The leaves treat whooping cough, the fruit can stop vomiting, and the seeds treat eye cataracts. The whole plant of Cymbidium faberi can treat women's diseases, and the whole plant of Cymbidium goeringii treats neurasthenia, roundworms and hemorrhoids. The leaves of Cymbidium ensifolium can treat deficiency of lung qi (also written as liver qi). Orchid flower stems can treat malignant ringworm. The petals of plain-heart orchid can induce labor. The dried plain-heart petals of Cymbidium faberi can also induce labor.
In rural areas of some parts of Sichuan, orchids are called "labor-inducing flowers." It is said that if a woman has difficulty in childbirth, one should quickly bring a pot of "labor-inducing flower" into the delivery room, and when the pregnant woman smells the orchid fragrance she will give birth smoothly. Whether this has a scientific basis still awaits verification by obstetrics and gynecology experts.
China's traditional orchids are precious flowers with graceful posture and rich fragrance (the fragrance of kings). But physicians through the ages have summarized very little about their medicinal value. The whole plant of orchids can be used as medicine. Its nature is neutral, its taste is pungent and sweet, and it is non-toxic. It has effects such as nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, promoting diuresis and draining dampness, and clearing heat and detoxifying. It can be applied to various clinical internal and gynecological conditions. A summary follows:
1. Nourish yin fluid, promote body fluid and moisten dryness, and treat the sequelae of dry mouth and excessive thirst caused by radiotherapy for malignant tumors.
[Ming] Li Shizhen, "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Orchid, odor pungent, neutral, sweet, non-toxic." "Its qi is clear and fragrant, promotes body fluid and quenches thirst, moistens muscles, and treats consumptive thirst and gallbladder heat." "...For treating consumptive thirst, promoting body fluid and drinking, use orchid leaves; this is probably based on this." Modern medical science uses radium (cobalt-60) for radiotherapy after surgery for some malignant tumors or cancers and has achieved certain therapeutic effects, but it causes a certain degree of damage to and functional impact on tissues and organs near the tumor. For example, radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer, malignant tumors of the salivary glands (mucoepidermoid carcinoma), and cancers of the upper and middle esophagus damages the various glands of the oral cavity, especially the three pairs of major salivary glands, the parotid, submandibular and sublingual glands, and the mucosal gland cells of the upper digestive tract, causing a large decrease in glandular secretion and producing symptoms of upper consumptive thirst such as dry throat and burning sensation, dry tongue and scorched lips, and thirst with a desire to drink. Using orchids can treat this condition caused by radiotherapy for malignant tumors, with very good results.
According to clinical experience, combining with some Chinese herbal medicines gives better results for patients receiving radiotherapy for malignant tumors in different parts and organs. For example, for patients receiving radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer, it is usually used together with shandougen, baimaogen and dandelion; for patients receiving radiotherapy for esophageal cancer, it should be used together with banzhilian, baihuasheshecao, xiakucao and lingxian.
2. Clear heat and cool blood, nourish yin and moisten the lungs, and treat dry cough with prolonged coughing and pulmonary hemoptysis.
Modern traditional Chinese medicine research shows that the whole plant of Jianhua has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, and is often used clinically for pulmonary tuberculosis hemoptysis and for regulating prolonged dry cough that does not stop.
To treat patients with mild to moderate hemoptysis from pulmonary tuberculosis, use 50-100 g of fresh roots of Cymbidium ensifolium, crush and squeeze the juice or decoct in water and take, twice a day; obvious effects appear in 4-6 days.
To treat patients with dry cough that does not stop, use 30-50 orchid stamens, decoct in water, add rock sugar, take twice a day; remarkable effects appear after 3-5 days. This conforms to the statement in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that "orchid mainly treats generating blood, regulating qi, nourishing the nutrients, and eliminating phlegm and accumulations in the chest."
3. Regulate qi and harmonize blood, drain dampness and reduce swelling, and treat urinary tract infections and women's leukorrhea.
According to "Bencao Gangmu Shiyi": "The yellow orchid is called honey orchid and can stop diarrhea and leukorrhea, promote the water passages, kill gu poison, reduce carbuncles and swelling, regulate menstruation; taken for a long time it boosts qi, lightens the body, prevents aging, and communicates with the spirits." Modern traditional Chinese medicine believes that orchid roots have effects such as regulating qi and harmonizing blood, draining dampness and reducing swelling. They treat urinary tract infections and excessive leukorrhea in women.
Use 50 g of orchid roots, 30 g of maogen and 30 g of winter melon peel, decoct in water and take continuously for 6-10 days to treat urinary tract infections.
For excessive leukorrhea in women, use 50 g of orchid roots, 30 g of tianmendong and 30 g of lily, plus 1 farm free-range native chicken, stew together, take the soup and eat the meat, once every 2-3 days, for 2-3 times continuously.
4. Soothe the liver and relieve depression, harmonize qi and blood, and treat dizziness and blurred vision, and neurasthenia.
Modern pharmacological research shows that the aromatic component of orchids, aromatic oil, makes people relaxed and happy, clears stale qi, relieves depression and dispels stuffiness, and refreshes the mind.
To treat dizziness and blurred vision (Meniere's syndrome), it is effective. Prescription: 30 g orchid stamens, 15 g chrysanthemum, 15 g maidong, 20 g xianhecao, decoct in water and take, 1 dose a day. Take continuously for 4-6 days. This is based on the records in "Bencao Gangmu Shiyi" that "plain-heart Cymbidium ensifolium eliminates stale qi and relieves depression" and "honey-pickled green orchid flowers brewed as tea harmonize qi and blood, soothe the middle and sober one from alcohol."
Use 50 g of orchid roots, 20 g of canna rhizome and 20 g of Xu Changqing, decoct in water and take, 1 dose a day, continuously for 10-15 days, to treat neurasthenia.
5. Other medicinal uses
According to the record that "orchid leaves receive the qi of metal and water and yet seem to have fire; people know the value of their floral fragrance but do not know that their leaves have medicinal prescriptions; their leaves can strongly disperse long-accumulated and stale stagnant qi, namely what is now placed on the right," to treat constipation, stagnation and accumulation in the large and small intestines, thick and greasy tongue coating, dry throat and lung dryness, and difficult-to-bear bad breath, use 20-30 autumn orchid flowers and 50 g of orchid leaves; after decocting in water, when slightly warm, mix in 30 g of honey and take continuously for 2-3 times. This conforms to the theory that the lungs and large intestine are interior-exterior paired.
Use 50-100 g of fresh orchid roots, wash clean, crush and apply to the affected area, to treat traumatic injuries, subcutaneous bleeding and muscle tumors.
Edible value
(1) The floral fragrance can scent tea
Orchid fragrance is clear, crisp and mellow, and when used to scent tea, the quality is the highest. In orchid-producing areas or large-scale orchid nurseries, orchid tea has prospects for development.
According to records: "The flowers can enhance tea, and the paste can replace drink." In Fujian Province, villagers preserve Cymbidium ensifolium flowers in honey and then drink it. There is also the record: "Use salted plum to extract juice called plum oil, and use it to soak fresh flowers as a fragrance." In Japan's ancient capital, to the east of Kyoto, there is an old small shop that for decades has sold the ancestral "orchid tea." This is made by picking Cymbidium goeringii flowers produced on the mountains north of Kyoto, drying them semi-dry by a special method, then salting them and putting them in small clay bottles. When using, take two flowers and put them in a teacup, pour boiling water over them, and drink. After being soaked in water, the orchid flowers recover their original shape; they are both beautiful and have a special fragrance, and the flavor when drinking is extraordinary. The flowers can also be eaten at the same time.
(2) The flowers can be eaten
The flowers can be made into soup. According to records, the flowers can be added to soup; just before adding, first blanch them with hot water, and the flower color will be fresh and the soup flavor delicious. Orchids can be used in dishes and are a famous Sichuan dish at banquets, with a clear fragrance that fills the air and lingers around the table, unforgettable for a lifetime after eating. Famous Sichuan dishes include "orchid shredded tripe," "orchid shredded pork," and "orchid buns" also have an endless flavor.
Orchid cultural background: Chinese painting orchids
China's orchid culture has a history of more than 2,000 years since orchid appreciation began. The ancient veneration of orchids embodies the characteristics of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Literati and poets of past dynasties chanted and praised orchids everywhere, referring not only to the elegant form of orchids but even more to their clear, secluded fragrance.
The orchid's outer form is simple and elegant, with slender, soft leaf shapes, beautiful flower posture, plain and quiet fragrance, and a temperament of "clear color, clear qi, clear spirit, clear charm." It is also called junzilan, which shows that orchids are close to the gentleman. Literati preferred planting, appreciating, chanting, painting and writing about orchids, and had an orchid complex that could not be shaken off.
Poetry, lyrics, songs and fu
(Tang) Li Bai
A lone orchid grows in a secluded garden, amid all the grasses overgrown and hidden.
Though it is shone on by the spring sunshine, it again grieves under the high autumn moon.
Flying frost patters down early, and its green brilliance may soon cease.
If there is no clear breeze, for whom will its fragrance be released?
Guang Qunfang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
The orchid grows in a secluded valley where no one knows it; a visitor planted it by the eastern window and left me its fragrance.
I know it has a clear fragrance that can dispel foulness, and I admire even more its slender leaves that skillfully brave the frost.
Its roots settle among dense stones and its autumn fragrance comes early; clusters lean on tall bamboo for cool noon shade.
I would leave it together with xiongqiong beneath the hall; before my eyes I constantly see Chu-style verses and chapters.
Guang Qunfang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
Tear-drops glisten in the light, scattered and bright; wind-blown shadows lean aslant of their own accord.
How could the common folk fathom this? They prize the leaves above the flowers.
Ode to the Orchid (Yuan dynasty) Yu Tonglu
With my own hands I planted two or three orchid shoots; as the sun warmed and the breeze softened, they bloomed one after another.
Sitting long, I did not know the fragrance filled the room; when I pushed the window open, now and then a butterfly flew in.
Silk-Washing Stream · Orchid
As if in a bronze vase one saw dew-drenched sprouts, sparse flowers, cold and lone, faintly holding charm.
The clear tears of the Xiang River drip into the spring tide; how could heart ever match heart in tender love?
No leaf on leaf lends grace to the wind's standard; one heart-breaking collection is the Li Sao.
Ode to the Orchid (modern) Zhu De
In Yuexiu Park's groves of flowers and trees, a hundred blooms all open, each vying for spring.
Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, for a time the pride of the Five Rams City.
The Hidden Orchid (Tang dynasty) Cui Tu
Hidden and planted, who would know it? Its fragrance it keeps only in secret.
Since no gentleman wears it at his girdle, it is not that its national fragrance has faded.
White dew soaks it early and long; the spring wind always arrives late.
It is no match for the grass by the road: what use is all its rich fragrance?
Orchid (Song dynasty) Yang Wanli
By a snowy path it secretly opens pale blue-green flowers; from icy roots it wildly puts forth small red buds.
Born without the peach-and-plum face of spring, its fame rests in the mountain groves of the recluse.
Just because its national fragrance reaches court and market, it cannot let its frosty integrity grow old among the clouds.
The river thoroughwort and garden hui are no mates for me; leave it to the poets to fix the ranks.
Inscription on a Painting of an Orchid (Qing dynasty) Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao)
Its body is atop a thousand mountain peaks; in jutting crags and deep crevices its wondrous fragrance lies thick.
It is not that no floating clouds clamor beneath its feet; they come without knowing it and leave without staying.
Contemporary Poems on the Orchid
Old-Style Verse [Huzhou] Yao Danping
I do not vie for favor with the jade grass, but seek only to meet the clear breeze often;
I wish to spread fragrance everywhere, and so fulfill a heart full of fervor.
Orchid Yu Yafei
Among the clumps of grass by the roadside there is an orchid, showing no heroic bearing, revealing no splendor;
Only when its hidden fragrance steeps the heart and lungs does one know a rare blossom hides in the garden.
Famous Figures and the Orchid
Confucius Praises the Orchid
Confucius was exceedingly fond of the orchid. Because he placed special importance on the cultivation of personal moral character, he lodged deep feelings in the orchid. In the book Kongzi Jiayu (The School Sayings of Confucius), compiled and edited by Wang Su of the Wei of the Three Kingdoms, a fine anecdote of Confucius praising the orchid is recorded.
"Confucius said: 'After my death, Shang will improve day by day, while Ci will decline day by day.' Zengzi said: 'What do you mean?' The Master said: 'Shang likes to associate with those who are better than himself, while Ci likes to associate with those who are not his equal. If you do not know the son, look at the father; hence the conclusion "a gentleman must be careful about where he dwells."' From this, "the chamber of iris and orchid" became a byword for a good environment and an idiom praising and beautifying the orchid.
The Kongzi Jiayu also excerpts another passage of Confucius: "The iris and orchid grow in deep valleys, and do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; the gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of poverty and hardship." This was a passage in which Confucius answered Zilu. At that time King Zhao of Chu invited Confucius, and Confucius, accepting the invitation, set out and came to Chen and Cai. "The great officers of Chen and Cai plotted together, saying: Confucius is a sage; wherever he criticizes, he always hits the ills of the feudal lords. If he is employed by Chu, then Chen and Cai will be in danger." So they sent troops to surround Confucius. "Confucius could not proceed, and fasted for seven days; there was no communication with the outside, and even goosefoot gruel was not enough; his followers all fell ill, yet Confucius lectured all the more ardently, and his singing to the zither did not cease." Then Zilu said: "I have heard that Heaven rewards with blessings those who do good, and visits with calamities those who do evil. Now you, Master, have accumulated virtue and cherished righteousness, and have put it into practice for a long time; why should you be reduced to such hardship?" Thereupon Confucius listed such virtuous men in history as Boyi and Shuqi, Prince Bigan, and Wu Zixu, who in the end met with misfortune, explaining that "whether one meets with recognition or not is a matter of timing; whether one is worthy or unworthy is a matter of talent; gentlemen of broad learning and deep counsel who do not meet with the right time are many, so why should it be Qiu alone?" He also cited the iris and orchid, which "do not cease to be fragrant because no one is there," as a vivid metaphor to argue the view that "a gentleman does not change his integrity because of poverty and hardship."
Goujian Plants Orchids
The place where Goujian planted orchids - Lanzhu Mountain, a small hill on the south face twenty-five li from the city, facing the ancient Jian Lake to the east and backed by Kuaiji Mountain to the west - was indeed a fine place for growing orchids. From the pottery unearthed from the Hemudu cultural layer in Yuyao, it can be determined that the awareness and technique of potting plants already existed at that time; in the Yue state 4000 years later, it can be confidently affirmed that King Goujian of Yue planted orchids on Zhushan. Goujian's orchid planting had not only motive but also technical guarantee.
Regarding Goujian's planting of orchids on Zhushan, there are many historical records. Besides the Baoqing Xu Kuaiji Zhi, the Shaoxing Fu Zhi from the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty records: Lanzhu Mountain, there is a plant there, with long leaves and white flowers, whose flower has a national fragrance, and its name is lan (orchid); it was planted by Goujian. The Ming scholar Nan Fengji, annotating Wang Shipeng's Kuaiji Fengsu Fu, also said: Lanting is Lanzhu. The Yue Jue Shu says: Goujian planted orchids on Zhushan. The Ming dynasty Xu Wei also mentioned in his Lange Ge that Goujian, in planting orchids, must choose the ground, and that Lanzhu today is that very place. The Shaoxing Dizhi Shulue records: Lanzhu Mountain, twenty-seven li south of the city, where Goujian planted orchids. Because Goujian planted orchids on Zhushan, later generations named Zhushan Lanzhu Mountain, named the market below Lanzhu Mountain Flower Street, and named the post pavilion below Lanzhu Mountain Lanting.
Qu Yuan Wears the Orchid
Qu Yuan (c. 340 - early 278 BCE), great poet of the Warring States period. His given name was Ping, his courtesy name Yuan, his sobriquet Lingjun, and he was also known as Zhengze. He was a man of Chu. The Shiji: Biographies of Qu Yuan says of him: "He was broadly learned and strong of memory, understood the principles of order and disorder, and was skilled in speech and diction." But his political views met with fierce opposition from the old bureaucrat aristocracy, and the King Huai of Chu, on whom he relied, was dim-witted and incompetent, unable to tell the loyal from the treacherous. As a result, he believed slander and turned his anger against Qu Yuan. By the time of King Qingxiang of Chu, Qu Yuan met with even greater misfortune and was long exiled to the Yuan and Xiang region. Qu Yuan suffered poverty and hardship, yet his will did not change and his conduct became all the more upright: "I cannot change my heart and follow the vulgar crowd; I would rather end in sorrow and hardship!" He expressed this resolve to remember his lord and love his country, and this feeling of setting the times right and succoring the world, through many fragrant flowers and rare plants, rousing emotion by touching things and lodging his will in sought-out objects; moreover, he made new developments in this technique of comparison and evocation, thus kneading together object and self, feeling and scene, fusing them in one furnace, and thereby greatly expanding the realm and expressive power of poetry. In his selection of fragrant flowers and rare plants, Qu Yuan especially chose the orchid, and so in many poems such as the Li Sao, the Nine Songs, and the Nine Chapters, he writes of how he cultivated orchids, wore orchids, threaded orchids, plucked orchids, and cut orchids. He placed boundless hope in the orchid: "I had already cultivated nine wan of orchids, and again planted a hundred mu of hui... when their branches and leaves are tall and lush, I wish to wait for the time to cut them." He took the orchid as a friend and made it his kindred spirit: "The time grows dim and is about to end; I tie the hidden orchid and linger." He took the orchid as a girdle ornament to express his own purity and self-regard: "I wear the Jiangli and the Bibi, and thread autumn orchids for a girdle." He also worried that the orchid would wither in the autumn wind and cold dew and follow the vulgar crowd, changing its integrity and losing its fragrance: "The times are tangled and changing; how can I stay long? The orchid and angelica have changed and lost their fragrance; the chuan and pu have turned into thatch." The above are only a few examples of the orchid cited in the Li Sao, from which one can see how deeply Qu Yuan loved the orchid, praised the orchid, lodged his feelings in the orchid, and used the orchid to satirize; here the orchid is not a simple metaphor or a thing touched to rouse feeling, but a symbol, an entrustment, a pursuit of spirit and character.
Zheng Sixiao's Paintings
Zheng Sixiao (1241-1318), poet and painter of the late Song and early Yuan, a man of Lianjiang (present-day Fujian). His original name is unknown; after the fall of the Song he changed his name to Sixiao, because the character "Xiao" is a component of Zhao, the national surname of the Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Yiweng, meaning he did not forget his former country; his sobriquet was Suonan. In the Yuan dynasty, Zheng Suonan (that is, Zheng Sixiao) was most famous for painting orchids, and his implied meaning was also the most explicit. After the fall of the Zhao Song regime, it is said that whether sitting or lying he always faced south, to show that he cherished the memory of the former dynasty and was ashamed to be a turncoat official of the Yuan; the orchids he painted never included soil or roots, as if they were floating in the air. When people asked him about it, he said: "The land has been seized by the foreigners - do you not know?" Or he would answer: "The national territory has already been seized by the foreigners; how could I be willing to let it touch the ground?"
After the fall of the Song, Zheng Suonan vowed never to have dealings with northerners. People knew he was eccentric, and did not find it strange. He lived in seclusion in Wu, with several tens of mu of land, which he entrusted to the Baoguo Temple south of the city, so that the annual income from the land went to the temple for sacrifices to his ancestors. On days of ancestral memorial he would weep greatly below the temple, and the gentleman also lodged and boarded at the temple. His room was utterly bare, and he always sat facing south. When the noble and powerful asked for his orchids, he was especially reluctant to give them; but to ordinary people and children who somewhat matched his intentions, he would instead give them. When the county magistrate sought them and could not get them, knowing that he had land, he threatened him with taxes and corvee to obtain them. The gentleman angrily said: "My head may be cut off, but the orchid cannot be painted!" Whenever the seasonal sacrifices came around, he would face the southern wilds, weep, and bow twice. He delighted in Buddhist and Daoist teachings, and was skilled at painting orchids, with sparse flowers and simple leaves, not seeking great finish. Once finished he would destroy them, and did not recklessly give them to others; hence very few of his orchid paintings survive, and only one, the Ink Orchid, remains, kept in the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts in Japan.
Zheng Banqiao's Paintings
Zheng Banqiao was an outstanding representative of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou," and in particular a master of a generation in painting orchids, bamboo, and flowers.
Historically it is said that "Banqiao had three excellences: painting, poetry, and calligraphy; and within the three excellences there were again three truths: true spirit, true meaning, and true delight." His calligraphy formed a style of its own, half clerical and half regular, called "six-and-a-half-part script," with the charm of crisscrossing irregularity and lean, hard, startling steepness. His poetry reflected life, said something substantive, and had the qualities of being vivid and accessible. Matching such poetry and calligraphy to his orchid paintings made his pictures all the more interesting and full of true spirit. His "three truths" were the revelation of his inner heart, concentratedly expressing his sympathy for the sufferings of the people. He said: Among all between heaven and earth, the first class of people are only the farmers... they all suffer in their bodies and labor with their strength, plowing, sowing, and harvesting, in order to nourish the people of the world. If the world had no farmers, everyone in the world would starve to death. Therefore his painting of orchids was meant to express this sincere and intense feeling of "treating all people as my brothers and all things as my kind." He said: "Whenever I paint orchids and rocks, it is to comfort the laboring people of the world, not to please those who sit back and enjoy themselves." With such a breadth of mind, his paintings possessed the "three truths."
Banqiao liked to paint potted orchids, and also often painted orchids on cliff walls and orchids among thorny thickets. Among Banqiao's orchid paintings, the most numerous and most endlessly intriguing are the pictures of orchid, bamboo, and rock. This is certainly the ancient tradition of painting orchids, and a characteristic of the "Eight Eccentrics'" flower painting, but it was also his creation and his outstanding achievement. In his orchid-and-bamboo paintings he often added rocks, holding that "one bamboo, one orchid, one rock: there is integrity, there is fragrance, there is bone," and "orchid, bamboo, and rock appear in succession; the great gentleman cannot be without them."
Banqiao's paintings of orchid, bamboo, and rock reached the peak of perfection, and his inscription poems played the role of adding the finishing touch, such as: "Half is green mountain, half is bamboo; half is green shade, half is jade. Please, when your tea is brewed and you wake from sleep, face this as if you were in a stone house." "A patch of green mountain, a patch of orchid; orchid fragrance and bamboo greenness are worth gazing at. Dongting and Yunmeng stretch three thousand li; filled with spring wind, one does not feel the cold." "On the rock grows orchid and further grows bamboo; a beauty accompanies them in the secluded valley. May I ask, from where does the east wind blow? It blows into the Xiang waves, a river of green."
Lu Xun Gathers Orchids
Lu Xun's family loved orchids for several generations. On November 14, 1933, Lu Xun wrote in his letter "To Yamamoto Hatsuko" that "my great-grandfather once cultivated many orchids, and even specially built three rooms for this purpose." On March 18, 1911, Lu Xun, together with Zhou Jianren and Wang Hezhao, went to visit the Mausoleum of Great Yu at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain. Before setting out, Lu Xun had everyone bring two painted tin buckets and a copper [tool] that he had prepared in advance. Arriving at the Mausoleum of Great Yu, they toured the Yu Temple and the Bianstone Pavilion, then went up Kuaiji Mountain to gather orchids. Later, Lu Xun wrote up the experience of this trip to the mountain as "A Travel Record of the Xinhai Year," published in the first issue of the Yueshe Congkan in February 1912, under the signature "Qiaofeng, Zhou Jianren of Kuaiji."
About that orchid-gathering on Kuaiji Mountain, Zhou Jianren often brought it up in his later years: "After the eldest (Lu Xun) gathered the 'one-leaf orchid,' he was extremely excited and said to me: 'Old Third, this trip was truly not in vain!' Back home, we carefully potted the orchids. Later, the eldest, at the invitation of Mr. Cai Yuanpei, went to take up a post in Beijing. At first he wanted to take the orchids with him, but in the end did not take them because the road was so far. Before leaving, he specially instructed me to grow these several pots of orchids well. Not long after, I too was invited to teach at a school, and usually seldom went home; in the end, the 'one-leaf orchid' died. To keep the eldest from being heartbroken, I never told him this news."
In the late 1920s, Lu Xun moved to Shanghai. Around the time of Awakening of Insects each year, when people passed by Lu Xun's residence, the hidden fragrance of orchids would come rushing at them. In Shanghai he also became acquainted with the Japanese orchid enthusiast Obara Eijiro. Obara ran a shop in Tokyo called "Keikado" dealing in Chinese curios, and also engaged in the orchid trade. Before the War of Resistance, Obara Eijiro had many times gone to Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, and other places to collect Chinese spring orchids. He was on old terms with Zhu Zhangfu, Wang Shuping, and others, and once wanted to invite Zhu Zhangfu to Japan to grow orchids. He wrote the Lan Hua Pu (Treatise on Orchids). In 1931, when the Kuomintang suppressed the writers of the Left-wing League, Lu Xun took refuge in the Hanazono-so inn opened by a Japanese, and it happened that Obara was about to return to his country with orchids he had traded. Moved by the scene, and using the matter of a friend carrying orchids back east, he borrowed the orchid to express his feelings:
Pepper burned, cassia snapped, the fair one grows old; alone it leans on the hidden crag and displays its plain heart.
Why begrudge its fragrance to those far away? In my native place, drunk as it is, there are thorns and brambles.
Zhu De's Love of Orchids
Throughout his life Zhu De had a singular passion for orchids; whether in wartime or in peacetime, his devotion to orchids was constant. Orchids not only brought great pleasure to Zhu De's life, but also let people see his side full of zest for life and delicate feeling.
In his early years, when he was in the army in Yunnan, Zhu De had already begun to love orchids. In the intervals between marching and fighting, he often gathered orchids everywhere, transplanting them to admire, and from this accumulated some knowledge of orchid varieties and cultivation.
In 1928, Zhu De led the Nanchang Uprising troops and Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops to a victorious meeting at Jinggangshan. In the mountains southeast of Ciping on Jinggangshan, all kinds of orchids grew abundantly, especially the Jinggang orchid, and the place was called "Orchid Flat." Seeing wild orchids again after many years, Zhu De was extraordinarily excited; he often went into the mountains in his spare time to seek and admire flowers, and when he came upon rare specimens he would gather them and cultivate them with care. The story of Zhu De's love of orchids spread widely among the people of Jinggangshan, leaving the fine saying that "back then Commander Zhu introduced orchids, and their fragrance drifted eight hundred li along the Hunan-Jiangxi border," which was even woven into a red ballad and sung: "Commander Zhu carried water from the Xiang River, and watered the Jinggang orchids into bloom."
Far from the era of raging war, Zhu De had the conditions to study orchids seriously. Whenever he went out on inspection, as long as the place produced orchids and he had leisure, he would always go with keen interest to parks or mountain wilds to seek orchids, and when he came upon good varieties he would bring them back to Beijing and cultivate them carefully. If he encountered a flower exhibition, he would certainly not miss it. His footprints reached almost all the main orchid-producing regions, including Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou, and Hainan Island. It is said that in February 1961, when he visited Gushan in Fuzhou, he passed an old tree, looked up, and said there were orchids on the tree; everyone was half doubtful. So someone climbed the tree to look, and indeed gathered a bundle of orchids from it.
Under Zhu De's both scientific and careful tending, the several thousand pots of rare orchids kept at Zhu De's home grew well, yet he was not satisfied with this alone; he often gave away the orchids he had carefully cultivated to others or to landscape departments, sharing the fragrance and beauty of the orchids with everyone. Beginning in 1961, he sent people specially to give more than 160 pots of orchids suited to cultivation in subtropical regions, in three batches, to the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu. Many of the orchids in Beijing's Zhongshan Park were given by Zhu De. According to the recollection of an old gardener at the park: "Old Chief Zhu often gave us orchids, such as Hainan Island's 'Haiyan Qifei,' Guangdong's ink orchid, 'Yuchen Dagong,' 'Yinbian Dagong,' 'Jinsi Mawei,' Sichuan's multi-flowered orchid, summer hui, 'Longchang Su,' 'Heqi Luyi,' Jiangsu and Zhejiang's 'Quzhou Su,' Yunnan's 'Dahong She' and autumn orchid, and so on." In addition, Zhu De also gave the books on orchids in his collection to landscape departments, encouraging them to study diligently and improve their cultivation techniques.
Orchids added much delight to Zhu De's life; whenever he saw orchids vying in strange beauty and blooming in competition, or discovered a new orchid variety, Zhu De would often be seized with poetic inspiration. On March 3, 1961, when Zhu De visited the orchid nursery in Guangzhou's Yuexiu Park, he improvised the poem "Visiting Yuexiu Park": "In Yuexiu Park's groves of flowers and trees, a hundred blooms all open, each vying for spring. Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, for a time the pride of the Five Rams City." In the late autumn of the same year, Zhu De wrote a seven-character quatrain to describe the pleasure he gained from his diligent labor: "The hidden orchid, graceful, waits for winter to bloom; green leaves and verdant growth mirror the painted terrace. Just as the red blossoms open, pearl dew falls; fragrance fills ten paces and comes out from the courtyard."
On January 1, 1962, Zhu De visited the orchid exhibition at Beijing's Zhongshan Park and wrote the poem "Singing of the Orchid Exhibition": "Spring comes, purple vapor rises in the east; all things grow and together shine. The hidden orchid newly displayed in the new city, everyone praises the national fragrance. The hidden orchid puts forth its beauty beneath the tall trees, yet still coils its roots beside the common grass. Even if no one comes to admire it, it still gains its ground and holds its fragrance." Its last four lines were later printed on the souvenir sheet of the special stamps "Chinese Orchids," issued on December 25, 1988.
In 1963, during a visit to the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu, Zhu De wrote more than 10 poems under the title "Spring Thoughts at the Thatched Cottage," among which one praises the orchid: "The hidden orchid comes out of the valley, slender and delicate; moved to the Thatched Cottage, it is willing to bow. The way says its fragrant bearing does not understand intent, yet accompanying the Ministry of Works it puts forth new shoots."
On April 20, 1963, during an inspection tour in Sichuan, Zhu De went to Shisun Peak on Mount Emei to seek orchids, planted the orchids he had gathered into pots with his own hands, and said to the accompanying staff: "The ancients said bamboo has integrity but no flowers, plum has flowers but no leaves, pine has leaves but no fragrance; only the orchid has leaves, flowers, and fragrance. Please take good care of these several pots of orchids for me; in the future I will come to Emei again, and come to see these orchids." And he improvised a lyric, "Parrot Song · Gathering Orchids at Shisun Peak": "On Mount Emei I dwell as karma allows; in the secluded valley of Shisun I play the immortal father. Pine and bamboo, friends, ever shine upon me; together we endure mist, cloud, wind, and rain. The understanding man comes to seek me out; my wish is to follow you and go. If I may be offered up as national fragrance, my imperishable name will remain everywhere."
Over his lifetime Zhu De composed about 40 poems on the orchid, and these poems truly reflect what he felt and realized in the course of seeking, growing, and admiring orchids, full of Zhu De's praise and love for the orchid. In Zhu De's view, growing orchids had many uses. On February 6, 1961, when Zhu De visited Fuzhou West Lake Park, and came to the orchid nursery, he said to Chen Shizhang of the Fuzhou Municipal Landscape Management Office: "The Liuxiang Ravine in the Wuyi Mountains produces many orchids; they should be widely collected and propagated in large quantities, and used as export goods, which can both take part in international cultural exchange and enrich the contents of orchid manuals." On January 1, 1963, while inspecting the South China Botanical Garden, he again said to the person in charge of the garden: "Do not look down on orchids; orchids can be exported. We should plant orchids widely and earn more foreign exchange." At a time when China's industrial level was backward and its export capacity limited, developing the cultivation of orchids and other flowers could indeed serve as a way to increase exports and earn foreign exchange.
The orchid is a traditional famous flower of our country; it is dignified and plainly elegant, simple and noble, tough and resolute, and is much esteemed by people. Together with plum, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, it is called one of the "Four Gentlemen." The noble character of the orchid is precisely what Zhu De greatly valued, esteemed, and required of himself. All his life he strove with unwavering purpose for the pursuit and practice of truth; he was modest and prudent, approachable, indifferent to fame and gain, and broad-minded, just like that plain, noble orchid whose fragrance lasts long!
The Flower Language of the Orchid
The flower language, symbolism, and representative meaning of the orchid are: indifference to fame and fortune, elegance. There are many varieties of orchids; according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 20,000 orchid varieties in the world, among which the better known include the Phalaenopsis, the orchid, and the cymbidium. In fact, each has its own flower language, but the general flower language of the orchid is indifference to fame and fortune, and elegance. [8]
Stock (Violet): everlasting beauty
Freesia: purity, innocence
Cattleya: great lady
Phalaenopsis: happiness gradually arrives
Oncidium: hidden love
Gladiolus: elegance, longevity, peace and health
The flower language of the orchid: indifference to fame and fortune, elegance, beauty, nobility, and virtue
Orchid pictures