Propagation Methods and Market Prices of the Cast Iron Plant
The cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) is a favorite of many growers; it looks beautiful and has high ornamental value, which is exactly why it is so well loved. How do you propagate the cast iron plant? What is the price of the cast iron plant: How to propagate the cast iron plant: The cast iron plant is an evergreen plant with upright, neat leaves, and the leaf color is deep green and glossy, elegant yet dignified. In addition
The cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) is a favorite of many growers; it looks beautiful and has high ornamental value, which is exactly why it is so well loved. How do you propagate the cast iron plant? What is the price of the cast iron plant:
How to propagate the cast iron plant:
The cast iron plant is an evergreen plant with upright, neat leaves, and the leaf color is deep green and glossy, elegant yet dignified. In addition, the cast iron plant has a relatively short growth cycle, strong adaptability and tolerance to shade, making it one of the choices for indoor greenery decoration in pots. However, when choosing to grow it at home, consumers need to understand the growth characteristics of the cast iron plant.
First, when growing the cast iron plant at home, you can use the division method for propagation, and when propagating, pay attention to the choice of division time, the application of the division method, and the care after division. When dividing the cast iron plant, you need to choose a loose, fertile sandy loam soil.
During the growing season, consumers should water the cast iron plant thoroughly to keep the soil moist, and it is best to water from the leaf surface toward the soil. Watering this way facilitates the growth of new leaves, but after late autumn the amount of watering can be appropriately reduced. The cast iron plant does not have high sunlight requirements during growth, so avoid placing it in direct sunlight.
The cast iron plant is an extremely shade-tolerant plant, and can even be enjoyed for several months in a dim room. However, a long-term dim environment is not conducive to photosynthesis, so it is best to move it every so often to a place with bright light for a period of care, to benefit growth and ornamental value. Especially during the period from new leaf sprouting to new leaf maturity, it must not be placed in too dark a spot.
What is the price of the cast iron plant:
The price of the cast iron plant is 0.4 to 22 yuan per plant; this price is dynamic and is related to the size of the cast iron plant, as well as to the pot.
That is all for the introduction to the propagation methods and prices of the cast iron plant. If you get the chance, you should definitely have one at home.
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 flowering plants
Family and genus: Plantae, Angiosperms, Monocotyledons, Asparagales, Orchidaceae, Cymbidium
Full bloom period: All four seasons
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belonging to the orchid family, 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 per cluster. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. The orchid is a flower famous for its fragrance, with the characteristics of noble purity and elegance. Famous figures ancient and modern have held it in extremely high regard, and it is likened to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to "orchid writing," true friendship to an "orchid bond," and a good friend to an "orchid guest."...
Orchid Growing Methods and Precautions Introduction to Orchids
Orchid (scientific name: Orchidaceae), belonging to the orchid family, 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 per cluster. The roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of orchids all have certain medicinal value. The orchid is a flower famous for its fragrance, with the characteristics of noble purity and elegance. Famous figures ancient and modern have held it in extremely high regard, and it is likened to the gentleman among flowers. Among ancient literati, the beauty of poetry and prose was often compared to "orchid writing," true friendship to an "orchid bond," and a good friend to an "orchid guest."
The orchid is one of China's top ten famous flowers, loved by all. It has a pleasant fragrance: "Beside the road, among the grass, grows the orchid, revealing no heroic bearing nor showing splendor; only when its subtle fragrance reaches the heart does one realize a rare blossom hides in the garden." This orchid that gives off a subtle fragrance has always been favored by people.
The alluring and mysterious subtle fragrance of the orchid cannot be compared with the fragrance of any other flower in the world. Whether it is the delicate fragrance of the Cymbidium faberi, the strong fragrance of the Cymbidium goeringii, the osmanthus-like fragrance of certain Cymbidium ensifolium, or the sandalwood-like scent of certain Cymbidium sinense, they all share one common trait: clear and subtle.
Orchids are often used for tea. Orchid tea has a jade-green color, with silvery hairs visible, a clear liquor, and a pure, mellow taste; it smells pleasantly of orchid 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 for a short while, and it is ready to drink. The floral fragrance of orchids comes from the volatile oils secreted by the aromatic oil glands within the column of the orchid flower. Due to the plant's physiological processes, the secretion of these volatile oils may be intermittent, which is why people find the fragrance comes and goes, now faint now strong. The main chemical components of these volatile oils are mixtures of organic compounds such as esters or lactones and terpenoid enol and enal-ketone compounds.
Morphological Characteristics of Orchids
The orchid is a perennial herbaceous plant. The roots are fleshy and thickened, without root hairs, and have symbiotic fungi. It has pseudobulbs, commonly called reed heads, covered on the outside with leaf sheaths, often connected together with multiple pseudobulbs, 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 consists of 3 sepals, 3 petals and the column. The middle sepal is called the main petal. The lower 2 are the lateral petals; the extent to which the lateral petals spread is called the "hu." The upper 2 petals are upright, relatively thick and fleshy, with tips curling inward, commonly called the "peng." Left-right symmetry, the labellum, pollinia and the gynostemium are the basic characteristics of orchid family plants: the characteristic of pollinia being in masses has some exceptions; except for the Apostasioideae and Cypripedioideae, which lack them, most other orchid family plants also have a pollinium stalk. The ancients regarded "one stem with one flower as the orchid," and one stem with many flowers as the hui.
Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium faberi are classified, according to differences and variations in the shape and texture of their main petals, lateral petals, peng and lip, into plum petal, narcissus petal, lotus petal, butterfly petal, rare varieties and suxin, etc. The plum petal has short, round sepals, relatively thick and fleshy, slightly curved inward, with a narrow base; the lip is short and hard; the peng petals are thick and fleshy with tips curving inward to form a pocket; the flower faces slightly upward when first opening. Famous varieties include Song Mei, Xishen Mei and others. The narcissus petal has sepals slightly longer than the plum petal, with tips gradually tapering; the peng petals are thick in texture with tips also forming a pocket; the lip droops slightly or curls back. Famous varieties include Wang Zi, Cui Yipin and others. The lotus petal has broad, large sepals, thick in texture, with a narrow base and a broad, abruptly pointed tip; the peng petals do not form a pocket; the lip is relatively moist and slightly curled back. Famous varieties include Da Fugui, Cui Gaihua and others.
The butterfly petal has, on the inner side of the two downward-facing sepals, thickened texture forming wavy wrinkles, with red patches; sometimes the number of sepals or petals suddenly increases (such as in Lü Yun, whose corolla often has around 8 pieces), or the flower shape has special changes. Suxin means the perianth, flower stem and bracts are the same color, pure green, yellow-green, etc., without mottled markings of other colors; precious varieties include Zhang He Su, Lao Wen Tuan Su and others.
Ecological Habits of Orchids
Orchids by nature prefer shade and fear direct sunlight, prefer moisture and avoid dryness, and prefer fertile environments rich in humus with good air circulation. Therefore, the growing medium requires: good aeration, looseness, good drainage, and slight acidity. Outdoors, the most commonly used is mud flower soil. The climate and environment of each place can affect the growth of orchids, so the method of choosing the growing medium differs. For example, in the southern Fujian area, 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 the relative air humidity is 60-70%; too dry or too wet can easily trigger orchid diseases.
Controlling moisture is the most fundamental condition for growing orchids well. Orchid leaves are relatively thick in texture, with a cuticle on the surface for protection, so orchid leaves do not consume large amounts of water. The orchid's pseudobulbs and fleshy roots can store a certain amount of nutrients and water, so they are relatively drought-tolerant. Apart from the root-initiation and sprouting stages and the rapid growth period, when more water is needed, water consumption is lower at other times. If there is too much water, causing waterlogging in the soil and blocking root respiration, root rot easily occurs. Too much water also causes the cell walls of orchid leaves to fill with water and the leaf stomata to open, resulting in diluted nutrient content, which in turn makes the tissues weak, causes poor growth, and produces disease. Orchids like rain but fear waterlogging, like moisture but fear wetness. Because air humidity differs across spring, summer, autumn and winter, and orchid growth rates differ, the water requirements also differ. Hence the saying that whether one can grow orchids mainly depends on whether one can water them.
Orchids prefer light feeding; when fertilizing, it is better to under-fertilize than over-fertilize. Like other plants, nitrogen promotes lush growth of stems and leaves. Phosphorus promotes well-developed orchid roots, promotes robust development of reproductive organs, and spreads out the stems and leaves. Magnesium, sulfur, iron and other trace elements can make leaves green and flowers strong. During the vigorous growth period of orchids, fertilize more; during the dormant period or weak growth period, do not fertilize. If you over-fertilize, it will burn the roots and leaves, causing irreparable loss.
There is also zhilan, used as a metaphor for fragrant grass.
Cultivation Techniques for Orchids
We Chinese have been viewing and cultivating orchids far earlier than the Western cultivation of foreign orchids. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, 2,400 years ago, the Chinese cultural sage Confucius once said: "The zhilan grows in a secluded valley, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; the gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his principles because of poverty."
Lan, is fragrant grass. -- Shuowen
Heng lan zhi ruo. -- Book of Han, Biography of Sima Xiangru
The root of the lan-huai is the zhi. -- Xunzi, Encouraging Learning
The root of the Chinese orchid is the white zhi (Angelica dahurica), and the white zhi symbolizes the common people. Hui and zhi have been, since ancient times, the essence of the traditional virtues of benevolence, righteousness and civil governance. The great Tang poet Li Bai wrote, "The secluded orchid's fragrance travels far on the wind, the hui grass's flowing fragrance roots." The Cymbidium faberi's root system is the people.
When cultivating, the divided orchid clumps should not be split too sparsely; each clump should have at least 3 to 5 shoots, and it is best to keep one-year-old plants, two-year-old plants and three-year-old plants in the same clump.
Pot Base Layer
Cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with a piece of tile, then gradually fill with bricks, tiles or shells, with the large gaps filled with mud pellets or bean-sized stones, generally about 1/2 to 1/3 of the pot's internal height. The remaining clear height above is about 10 to 15 cm, reserved as the growing-soil layer. Its specific height should be determined according to the orchid species and the length of the orchid roots and the height of the pot. The base material should not be packed too densely; some gaps should be retained. Practice has proven that some new roots can grow well in the gaps of the base layer.
Planting
On top of the base layer, first fill in 2 to 3 cm of growing soil, press it lightly with your hand, then place the orchid upright on top. Depending on the size of the plant and the pot, you can plant several single plants, 2 clumps, 3 clumps or more clumps in one pot. 3 clumps are best planted in a tripod arrangement. 4 clumps can be planted in a square. 5 clumps are best arranged in a plum-blossom shape. The orchid roots should spread out naturally, and the leaves should drape in all directions. Slowly place the orchid roots into the pot so that the roots spread out naturally and, as much as possible, do not rub against the inner wall of the pot. After the orchid plant is in the pot, gradually fix its posture. For one clump per pot, the old pseudobulbs should be positioned to one side, leaving room for new shoots to develop. For several clumps per pot, the old pseudobulbs of each clump should be gathered relatively toward the middle of the pot, so that new roots and new shoots have enough space to develop outward.
Filling Soil
When planting, hold the leaves with one hand and add nutrient soil with the other, holding the base of the orchid plant and lifting it slightly upward to spread out the root system, while shaking the pot. Let the growing soil work deep into the root zone; continue adding soil and shaking the pot to adjust the position and height of the orchid plant. Press along the edge of the pot with your hand, but never too hard, to avoid injuring the roots; continue adding soil and pressing until the soil surface is 2 to 3 cm above the pot rim, forming a slightly steamed-bun shape. The growing soil should cover all the orchid roots, up to the base of the pseudobulbs. As for the depth of soil filling, tradition holds that Cymbidium goeringii should be shallow and Cymbidium faberi should be deep, but generally it should not bury the leaf bases on the pseudobulbs. Newly collected orchids, when growing in the wild, leave clear markers above and below the soil surface on the plant, and these markers can be used as the standard. The size of the pot should also match the size and number of the plants; neither should the pot be large while the plants are small and few, nor should the pot be small while the plants are large and many. Generally, the number of plants should be such that they will just fill the pot in 2 to 3 years. The size of the plants should match the height of the pot. This benefits both growth and ornamental requirements.
Top Dressing
After planting is complete, spread a layer of small stone particles or green moss on the surface of the pot soil; the best is high-quality moss from under the forest. It is both attractive and can regulate moisture, and can also protect the leaf surface from being polluted by muddy water, and prevent new shoots from being infected by pathogens in the soil and rotting at the heart; in addition, it can slow the washing-away of the pot soil by rain and keep the pot soil loose.
Watering
After planting is complete, water for the first time immediately; the pot soil must be soaked through, and the water droplets should be small, with the force not too strong. If placing it in a water basin to soak, never soak for too long. Once the pot soil is soaked, immediately take the pot out and then move it to a shaded place for care.
Watering orchid plants must be based on various natural factors affecting the 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 the air humidity is low and transpiration is strong, water more; conversely, if the air humidity is high or even saturated and transpiration has almost stopped, water less or even do not water.
Second, look at temperature. When the temperature is high, transpiration speeds up and water demand is greater, and the frequency of watering increases accordingly; conversely, when the temperature is low, water molecules move slowly and diffusion is weak, so less water is needed.
Third, look at light. Strong light speeds up transpiration and accelerates the diffusion of water molecules, so more water is needed; conversely, less water is needed. Therefore, different light and different degrees of shading mean different water management: water more for those exposed to the sun, and less for those facing away from the sun.
Fourth, look at wind. Strong wind evaporates water quickly; weak wind evaporates water slowly; a dry southwest wind will enhance evaporation, while on the contrary a humid southeast wind will relatively weaken transpiration; orchid pots placed in a drafty spot receive more wind and evaporate water quickly, while pots in a sheltered spot receive less wind and evaporate water slowly.
Fifth, look at the season. Different seasons have different temperatures, humidity and light, and the transpiration of the orchid plant also differs greatly. In the hot, dry summer, water more; in the plum rain season, water less or not at all; in the cold, overcast winter, do not water; in the early spring when temperatures are lower, water less; in the mild late spring, which is the sprouting period, water more; in the dry autumn, water more.
Sixth, look at the weather. Weather in nature is ever-changing; different weather has different light, temperature and humidity, and the transpiration of the orchid plant 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 (or 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 increasingly receiving attention. The main reason this phenomenon can attract the attention of breeders is that artificially hybridized new varieties that originally required many years of conventional cultivation to flower can, in test tubes, be artificially induced to flower through 1 to 2 culture cycles. In this way, individuals with excellent traits can be purposefully selected and bred according to the flowering situation, and relatively poor individuals eliminated, thereby shortening the entire breeding cycle and greatly reducing the workload of mass-cultivating 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 (Chunjian), Cymbidium tortisepalum (Lianban), Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium kanran and others.
The ways orchids flower in test tubes can, based on observation results, be roughly divided into three types. The first type is when the axillary buds of the orchid seedling 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 clump of seedlings that flowers, while in test tubes it is a single seedling that flowers. This situation is relatively common in Cymbidium ensifolium, and relatively rare in varieties such as Cymbidium goeringii and Chunjian. The second type is when the terminal bud of the orchid seedling develops into a flower bud, similar to what is commonly called "arrow in the grass" (arrow from the grass heart), with the flower growing from the very center of the orchid seedling. This situation occurs in all orchid species, especially commonly in Cymbidium goeringii. The third type is when the flower bud differentiates directly from the tip of the protocorm; this way is entirely controlled by the hormone levels in the medium, flowers quickly and uniformly, and has a high differentiation frequency, and is the main way 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 the breeding goal and select and breed excellent new varieties. For example, in the hybridization of a suxin variety and a plum-petal variety, the first filial generation is usually plum-petal but certainly not suxin, so it is necessary to backcross the first filial generation once with the suxin parent, or self the first filial generation once, and then select suxin plum-petal from the second filial generation. Using conventional methods, this process would certainly take more than ten years. Now, with the method of inducing orchids to flower in test tubes, we can let the first filial generation flower in the test tube, and carry out self-pollination or mutual pollination between first filial generation plants in the test tube, and cultivate seeds. These seeds need no disinfection and can be sown directly on the medium to obtain the second filial generation; then by inducing flowering, 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 seedling to flowering.
Propagation Methods of Orchids
Orchids are commonly propagated by division, sowing and tissue culture.
Division propagation: This can be done in both spring and autumn, generally dividing once every three years. Any plant with robust growth and densely clustered pseudobulbs can be divided; after division, each clump must retain at least 5 pseudobulbs connected together. Before division, reduce watering to make the pot soil relatively dry. When potting after division, first cover the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with broken tiles, then spread coarse gravel to occupy 1/5 to 1/4 of the pot depth, then place coarse-grained soil and a small amount of fine soil, and then plant with humus-rich sandy loam. The planting depth should be such that the pseudobulbs are just barely buried in the soil, leaving a 2 cm rim at the edge of the pot, topped with Selaginella uncinata or fine gravel, and finally watered thoroughly, then placed in a shaded spot for 10 to 15 days, keeping the soil moist, gradually reducing watering, and carrying out normal care.
Sowing propagation: Orchid seeds are extremely fine; the seed contains 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 will not germinate; therefore orchid fungi or artificial media are needed to supply nutrients for germination. For sowing, it is best to choose fruit that has not yet split; after sterilizing the surface with 75% alcohol, take out the seeds, soak them in 10% sodium hypochlorite for 5 to 10 minutes, take them out and rinse 3 times with sterile water, then sow them in a culture bottle containing medium, then place in a dark culture room, maintaining a temperature of about 25°C; after germination, move to light and protocorms can form. From sowing to transplanting takes half a year to a year. Tissue culture has already been successful, and where conditions permit, this method can be used for propagation.
Propagation Techniques
Site selection: The area should be open on all sides, well ventilated, close to water, with moist air and no coal-smoke pollution. On the southwest side of the site, evergreen broadleaf trees can be planted, with a canopy density of about 0.7; this can reduce afternoon sunlight and regulate humidity and temperature.
Watering: Rainwater or spring water is preferable; water containing salt and alkali should not be used. If tap water is used, it should be left standing for several days before use. Watering depends on the temperature: in spring, water less; in summer, water more; in the plum rain season, which is when orchids put out leaf buds, the pot soil should be slightly dry; after autumn when the weather turns cool, reduce watering appropriately, keeping it just moist. In winter, indoors it should be dry, reducing the frequency of watering, and it is best to water at noon. Orchids can be exposed to light rain, but continuous rain or heavy rain can easily cause rot at the heart and rot of the leaves, 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, place in a vat, add water several times until the bean cake is soaked through, then cover and seal, and after one year of decomposition, make into dry granules. When using, place on the pot surface. If using whole manure, it should also be decomposed for one year, then diluted with water and the residue filtered out before use. Generally, start fertilizing in May and stop in early autumn (Liqiu), applying thin 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, it should be placed under an open-air shed. The shade shed requires good ventilation. When orchids are first brought out in March to April, they can get more sun, and afterward the shading time gradually increases. In winter, orchids must be moved indoors for cold protection, keeping the room temperature at 1 to 2°C. In addition, after orchids are brought out in spring and before they are brought in in autumn, attention must 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 a small plant in a large pot uses a lot of growing medium, easily leading to poor aeration, and watering is also hard to control. If watering absorbs too much water, the growing medium does not dry easily, and bacteria invade, causing root rot.
Orchids should be planted shallowly -- orchid plants must not be planted too deep, otherwise long-term moisture will cause rot. When planting, fill the growing medium around the roots; the base or pseudobulbs must be exposed.
Roots must be spread out -- when planting orchids, the roots should be spread out evenly, not squeezed together, so that each root can contact the growing medium and aeration is also good.
Do not water for several days -- newly planted orchids may have injured roots; after applying fungicide to the wounds, do not water for 3 to 5 days, so the fungicide can take effect and also promote the growth of new shoots and new roots.
Avoid strong light -- newly planted orchids must avoid direct strong light to prevent dehydration, and should be placed in a warm, shaded place; you can use misting to increase air humidity until the orchid resumes normal growth.
Leaves Turning Yellow
This is generally root rot or hollowed-out roots. It is necessary to improve watering, and change the environmental humidity and light intensity.
Another cause of orchid leaves turning yellow is normal grass decline, because it is exactly the sprouting period, and with metabolism, nutrients cannot keep up, so the old shoots decline and leave nutrients for the new shoots to grow. However, other causes cannot be ruled out, such as root rot, soft rot and stem rot; these require frequent observation, and once found must be handled decisively, otherwise the whole lot 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 must be given to choosing the flowering period, improving the survival rate, the local climate and the local orchid soil's dryness and wetness, and factors such as different growing environments in different places; at the same time, do a good job of ensuring safety, fire prevention, not straying into restricted areas, and keeping collection records.
In the process of orchid cultivation and business, due to the frenzied speculation by orchid traders on some novel orchid varieties, the price of orchids once rose abnormally, with "sky-high orchids" constantly 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 reserves, establishing variety protection levels, improving legislation on wild resources, and strictly punishing illegal collectors.
From the perspective of long-term, 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 promulgated the orchid as the city flower of Nanjing.
Cold Regions
If you want to grow orchids well in the northern regions, you should try your 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, do the following well.
1. Choose good pots and growing soil
For ordinary home orchid growing, it is still better to choose clay pots. If you want to increase the decorative effect and beauty, you can put a colored-glaze porcelain pot outside the clay pot. The size of the pot should be such that the orchid roots can fully spread out inside the pot. For the pot soil, orchid mud is best. You can also make it yourself. You can mix 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 the potting method, see: Common Knowledge on Buying Orchids and Cultivation Techniques.
2. Apply thin fertilizer skillfully
When fertilizing orchids, apply thin fertilizer; never apply strong fertilizer. There is a saying: "Clear orchids, murky jasmine." Newly planted orchid plants should not be fertilized in the first year; start fertilizing from after Qingming in the second year until Liqiu. You can apply fully decomposed, thin cake fertilizer water 1 to 2 times a month. Because orchids have fleshy roots, never apply undecomposed fertilizer, to avoid root rot. Before each fertilizing, control water for 1 to 2 days, and apply only after the pot soil is slightly dry. After applying, water once on the next morning, to prevent unclean matter in the fertilizer liquid from polluting the root system and harming the orchid roots. When applying liquid fertilizer, be careful to avoid splashing and soiling the leaves. For orchid plants that have been cultivated for several years and have reached flowering age, apply mainly nitrogen fertilizer in the early stage to promote new shoot sprouting and rapid growth; apply mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizer in the later stage, which helps the pseudobulbs enlarge, the leaves become wide and thick, and provides sufficient nutrients for flower bud differentiation. Specifically, each autumn before flower bud differentiation, apply liquid fertilizer mainly of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer twice in succession; during the bud stage, on a clear evening, first wash the leaves with clear water, and after they dry, use a small sprayer to spray a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaf surfaces and undersides, or apply plant ash water to the roots. Foliar fertilization at this time is beneficial for promoting the development of the orchid's 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 liquid fertilizer mainly of nitrogen fertilizer or compound fertilizer twice more, which can promote plant growth. [6]
3. Light should be appropriate
Orchids by nature prefer shaded, cool environments and fear direct sunlight. Therefore, in the north, from April to early May, before 9 a.m., they can get a bit more sunlight; after mid-May, shading is needed, and at this time they should be placed in a cool, ventilated spot for care. In winter, place them near a south-facing window to receive more light, to enhance their vitality and promote flower bud differentiation. Especially for Cymbidium sinense and Cymbidium kanran, which flower in winter, they should be placed in a sunny spot indoors in winter; without light they will not flower well. [6] In short, growing orchids should achieve "not going out in spring, not in the sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter," meaning: in spring, guard against cold wind invasion and do not move them outdoors; in summer, they fear direct sunlight and should be placed in a cool, ventilated spot; in autumn, guard against the pot soil drying out, as this is exactly the orchid's bud stage, 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 to alternate between dry and moist.
Orchid Disease Control The main pests and diseases of orchids include：
Southern blight: Occurs mostly in the plum rain season. Prevent it by paying attention to ventilation and light transmission and good pot soil drainage. After onset, remove the infected pot soil and sprinkle on quintozene powder or lime.
Anthracnose: Present year-round, and more rampant in hot, rainy seasons. In addition to improving environmental conditions, during the onset period you can first spray with a 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 800 to 1,500 times dilution, once every 7 to 10 days, and then supplement with a 1% equal-amount Bordeaux mixture, 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 the orchid roots, causing root rot, poor growth of the above-ground leaves, leaf color fading to yellow, and even causing the plant to wilt. Nematode damage creates a large number of wounds and also causes infection by other soil-borne pathogens, leading to plant disease and accelerating plant death. The growing medium should be disinfected; 100°C steam sterilization can be used to kill the eggs. For severe infestations, repot immediately, soak the diseased plant in the medicinal solution for 20-30 minutes, take it out and dry it, and replant with new growing medium.
In summary, to grow orchids well, one must master their natural growing environment conditions, adopt reasonable measures, and strengthen care and management. According to the "Orchid Growing Formula": "Not going out in spring, not in the sun in summer, not dry in autumn, not wet in winter" -- this is a summary of our country's orchid-growing experience.
Pollution-free Methods for Pest and Disease Control：
Below are some folk small remedies for pollution-free control of orchid pests and diseases. "Small" remedies can often perhaps solve "big" problems; orchid enthusiasts might as well give them a try.
1. Tea bran
Tea bran, also called tea dregs or tea seed cake, is the residue left after tea seeds are pressed for oil, and farmers often use it to wash clothes. Tea bran contains saponins and glycosides, and its water extract is alkaline, with good stomach-poison and contact-killing effects on pests.
Control methods:
Soak crushed, powdered tea bran and boiling water at a ratio of 1:5 for a day and a night, then use it to drench the orchid pot, and at the same time drench the place where the orchid pot is placed and other orchid pots; it has a fairly good control effect on snails.
Spraying orchid plants with tea bran water has a very good control effect on aphids and red spider mites, reaching over 90%.
Tea bran water can also kill earthworms. Drench the pot soil thoroughly with tea bran water, and after a short while the earthworms will emerge from the soil surface; pick them out and remove them. Opinions differ in orchid circles on whether earthworms help or harm orchids. One view holds that earthworms in the pot damage some orchid fungus hyphae during their activity and injure the root tips of orchid roots, so they are pests and must be removed. Another view holds that earthworms in the orchid pot can eat much of the decaying matter in the pot and the orchid's rotten roots, that their activity can loosen the soil, and that their droppings can also serve as fertilizer for orchids, so their merits outweigh their faults and they need not be killed. Which is right and which is wrong remains for orchid enthusiasts to weigh the pros and cons and judge based on their own practical observations.
2. 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 pests 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 the 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, and use it to spray the orchid plants several times a day for several consecutive days; it has a good effect on controlling aphids, soft-bodied pests and preventing and controlling powdery mildew, etc.
Take 1 jin of ginger, add half a jin of water, mash and extract the juice, add 6 jin of water per jin of juice, and spray the orchid plants; it can control aphids.
Mix chive juice and clear water at a ratio of 1:60, and use it to spray the orchid plants twice a day, repeating for several days; it can cure black spot disease.
Take 15 g of chopped onion bulbs, put them in 2 jin of water, seal and soak for 7 hours, then filter, and use the filtrate to spray the orchid plants; it can control red spider mites and aphids.
3. 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 and stir to soak, then filter, then add 30 portions of water, and use it to spray the orchid plants, pot soil and pot bottom; it can eliminate ants and other pests without a waxy coating on their bodies.
4. Washing powder and detergent
Washing powder can dissolve the corneal layer of scale insects and at the same time form a layer of foam that wraps around the insect body, suffocating the scale insects to death. Washing powder solution can prevent and control some pests and diseases.
Control methods:
Dissolve a small amount of washing powder in a little warm water, then dilute with water to a 1000-fold solution and spray the orchid plants; this kills aphids, whiteflies and red spider mites. Diluted to a 600-fold solution and sprayed once every three days for three consecutive sprayings, all scale insects die.
Mix pig bile and clean water at a ratio of 1:100, add a small amount of washing powder, and spray the orchid plants with it to control anthracnose and soft rot. After spraying the orchid plants with the washing powder solution, once the pests are dead, the leaves must be rinsed several times with clean water so that the orchid plants grow normally.
5. Baijiu (Chinese liquor)
Mix baijiu and water at a ratio of 1:2 and spray the orchid plants once a week for three consecutive sprayings; this kills scale insects.
6. Orange peel
Place orange peel at the bottom of the pot to prevent ants and other pests from entering the potting soil and harming the orchids. Orange peel can also be cut into small pieces and scattered on the surface of the potting soil; with no watering for a few days, it can control aphids, scale insects and the like.
7. Brown sugar
Mix powdered brown sugar and boiling water at a ratio of 1:100; after it cools, spray the orchid plants with the brown sugar liquid once every 3 days for three consecutive times; it has a fairly good effect on controlling downy mildew, powdery mildew, black spot and leaf blight.
8. Diesel
Mix diesel and water at a ratio of 1:60 into an emulsion, then dilute it with 100 times its volume of water and spray the orchid plants; this can control scale insects and the like.
9. Plant ash
Soak plant ash and water at a ratio of 1:50 for two days and nights, then filter; spray the orchid plants with the filtrate; it can both control aphids and increase potassium fertilizer.
10. 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; this 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 times, and the adult scale insects will be killed. Spraying vinegar liquid on the leaf surface can also eliminate black spot, powdery mildew, leaf spot, yellowing disease and the like. Industrial-grade acid vinegar must not be used.
Orchid cultivation methods: spring care
In spring there is more cloudy and rainy weather, the temperature changes greatly, and cold waves easily occur. If orchids are not well cared for and managed, they will rot at the roots and shoots, seriously affecting their normal growth.
A home balcony-type orchid-growing site should have cold-proof and rain-proof facilities. Cymbidium sinense (baosuilan) and Cymbidium goeringii (chunlan) must be placed indoors for protection and management; Cymbidium ensifolium (jianlan), Cymbidium kanran (hanlan) and the like 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 raining, so as to prevent invasion by cold wind, cold rain, frost and snow.
When growing orchids, one should always ensure good ventilation. Orchid seedlings in greenhouses and warm sheds should be fitted with exhaust fans to renew 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, for baosuilan and the like, cut off the flower stems and do not let them set seed; lightly wipe the upper and lower surfaces of orchid leaves with 0.1% omethoate or dichlorvos solution, and use sterilizing agents and insecticidal agents to spray the balcony and site around the orchid-growing area and the potted orchids once every 7 days and 10 days respectively. Two hours after applying the insecticidal agents, spray the orchid leaf surfaces once with clean water to remove residual chemicals.
Before dividing orchid plants, stop watering for 3-5 days; when the potting medium is 70-80% dry, carefully tip the orchid plants and medium out, trying as much as possible not to break the orchid roots. Wash clean with disinfectant water or clean water and dry in the shade; wait until the orchid roots soften and turn white before potting. Use sterile new medium for potting, with the roots clinging to the medium, new plants facing outward and old plants facing inward, and the orchid crowns exposed one third above the soil surface. After potting, place in a shaded shed, mist the leaf surfaces morning and evening, water thoroughly to settle the roots after 24 hours, and switch to normal management after 15 days.
For orchids planted with 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 grass, rootless grass and leafless pseudobulbs, however, absolutely need plain growing and must not be given additional fertilizer; otherwise, haste makes waste and they suffer harm instead.
Orchid distribution areas
Orchids are world-famous flowers. Chinese orchids (guolan) have more than 15,000 varieties. In Asia, Chinese orchid is Cymbidium faberi (huilan); in Oceania and Africa most are Cymbidium (fenglan); Singapore has Vanda (wandailan); Finland has lily of the valley; Yugoslavia has lily of the valley; Seychelles has Yucca (fengweilan); Zimbabwe has Gloriosa (jialan); 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 magnolia.
Because most varieties of terrestrial orchids originated in China, orchids are also called Chinese orchids and are ranked first among China's top 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 (chunlan), Cymbidium faberi (huilan), Cymbidium ensifolium (jianlan), Cymbidium kanran (hanlan), Cymbidium sinense (molan), Cymbidium goeringii var. longibracteatum (chunjian) and Cymbidium tortisepalum (lianbanlan), with thousands of horticultural varieties.
Cymbidium goeringii (chunlan) is also called caolan or shanlan. Chunlan is widely distributed and rich in resources. Its flowering period is February to March of the year, lasting about 1 month. The flowers have a rich, pure fragrance. Famous precious varieties include various colors of lotus, plum, narcissus and butterfly petal types. In terms of petal type, the famous varieties from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most typical.
Cymbidium faberi (huilan) has thick and long roots, narrow strap-shaped leaves, rather 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 compound colors, mostly variegated flowers, and there are also plain flowers and butterfly flowers.
Cymbidium ensifolium (jianlan) is also called four-season orchid, including summer-blooming xialan, qiulan and the like. Four-season orchid is robust and upright, with green leaves and abundant flowers, rich 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 (molan) is also called baosuilan, baisuilan, fengsuilan and the like. It originated in 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 goeringii var. longibracteatum (chunjian) 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 compound colors, gorgeous and dazzling, with graceful bearing, elegant charm, rich fragrance and pure taste; it is often the first choice praised by orchid growers.
Cymbidium kanran (hanlan) is distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and the southwestern regions of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Hanlan's leaves are more slender than those of four-season orchid, especially narrower at the leaf base; the leaf posture is elegant and unrestrained, emerald green and delicate, with large-, medium- and fine-leaf and edged varieties. Flower colors are rich, including yellow, green, purple-red and deep purple; they generally have variegated veins and spots, and there are also clean, flawless plain flowers. The sepals and petals are both rather narrow and slender, with a distinctive style, delicate and lovely, with an assailing fragrance.
Orchid variety classification
Variety identification is an appraisal of an orchid's overall quality and is a discipline that best demonstrates one's orchid-growing skill. Therefore, orchid masters of past dynasties have all been especially cautious about this, never drawing conclusions rashly, and have always followed the "three looks" principle.
Leaf shape
In the flowerless season, the main basis for people to identify famous orchid varieties is to look 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, chunlan is generally a plain-heart variety, and huilan is mostly plain-heart or green huilan; 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 forms and eight styles" of orchid and huilan head shapes and the "five gates and eight styles" of huilan flower small-row bells. These valuable experiences are of great benefit to us in identifying varieties and are worth our good digestion and absorption.
All things develop and change. In orchid-growing practice, people have found that even for the same pot of orchids, the color of their flower buds sometimes differs in different years, or even in the same year. I have experience of this. After many years of observation, the flower buds of famous orchid and huilan varieties I cultivate, such as Dafugui and Yuanzi, sometimes differ in different years; in some years the flower bud color is deeper, and in others lighter.
Bloom quality
The most direct and effective way to identify orchid and huilan varieties is to look at their bloom quality, which is also the main reason why introduced varieties must be introduced when in flower. 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 variety of orchid and huilan often produces different bloom qualities depending on different cultivation methods.
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 Baoying "Kuaiji Xuzhi" records: "Lan, the Yuejue Shu says: Goujian planted orchids on Lanzhu Mountain. The old classic says: Lanzhu Mountain is the place where Goujian planted orchids." Lanzhu Mountain is in present-day Lizhu Lanting and is still famous at home and abroad for its abundant production of chunlan. Shaoxing orchids are numerous in variety, and their flower shape, color and fragrance are all unique. With one branch in the 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 me; 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 world's musk scent." Traditional famous orchid varieties such as "Songmei", "Loumei", "Huanqiu Heding" and "Zandie" all come from Shaoxing. Shaoxing's rare variety "Lüyun" is a nationally 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 among Cymbidium plants. The pseudobulbs are relatively small, the leaves are linear, and the roots are fleshy; the flower stems are upright, with 1 to more than 10 flowers, the flowers small and fragrant, usually pale green with purple-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. It has a long cultivation history, at least more than a thousand years, and is one of China's top ten traditional famous flowers. Since ancient times, people have regarded orchids as a symbol of nobility, elegance, patriotism and unyielding integrity.
It 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 molan, jianlan and hanlan is about 10°C, and about 5°C for the other species. What is called Chinese orchid today was called "hui" in ancient times. Just as Huang Tingjian (1045-1105) of the Northern Song described orchids in "Youfang Pavilion": "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 heyday of China's orchid-growing history, with numerous books and descriptions about orchid cultivation. For example, Luo Yuan of the Song dynasty wrote in "Erya Yi": "The leaves of the orchid are like those of the sedge, and it sprouts in early spring.
Its flowers are very fragrant, and it mostly grows in forests; when a gentle breeze passes, its fragrance drifts outward, hence it is called zhilan. 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 in 1233 can be said to be the earliest extant work in China studying 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 molan) and white orchids (that is, plain-heart jianlan), and discussing the grade of orchids. Following "Jinzhang Lanpu", Wang Guixue wrote the book "Wangshi Lanpu" in 1247, which gave detailed descriptions of more than 30 orchid varieties.
In addition, the Song dynasty also had the book "Lanpu Aofa", which mainly described cultivation methods and was divided into seven parts: propagation method, flower planting method, placement and watering method, watering method, flower fertilizer and soil method, ant and louse removal method, and miscellaneous methods. As for the book "Zhongyi Biyong" written by Wu Zan, it also introduced orchid cultivation. In 1256, "Quanfang Beizu" written by Chen Jingyi recorded orchids in fairly detailed fashion; the complete engraved edition of this book was collected in the Japanese Imperial Palace Library, and in 1979 Japan returned a photocopy to our country. In the Song dynasty, works using orchids as subject matter in Chinese painting included "Spring Orchid Picture" painted by Zhao Mengjian, which is considered the earliest extant famous orchid painting and is now treasured in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, orchid cultivation entered a flourishing period. As orchid varieties continuously increased and cultivation experience became increasingly rich, orchid cultivation had become an object of public viewing. At this time there were relatively many orchid books, 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 book "Zunsheng Bajian".
The Ming dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen's book "Bencao Gangmu" gives a relatively complete discussion of the naming, categories and uses of orchids. The Qing dynasty also produced many monographs on orchid cultivation, such as the 1805 "Lanhui Tongxin Lu", written by a person surnamed Xu from Jiaxing, Zhejiang, who was addicted to orchids, good at painting orchids and had rich experience in orchid cultivation. The book is divided into two volumes; volume one discusses knowledge of planting orchids, and volume two describes methods for identifying and classifying orchid varieties. The whole book records 57 varieties and includes line drawings made by him. Others such as Yuan Shijun's "Lanyan Shulüe", Du Wenlan's "Yilan Sishuo", Mao Xiang's "Lanyan", Zhu Kerou's "Diyi Xiang Biji", Tu Yongning's "Lanhui Jing", Zhang Guangzhao's "Xinglan Pu Lülüe", Yue Liang's "Yanglan Shuo", Wang Hao's "Guang Qunfang Pu", Wu Qijun's "Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao", and the late Qing Ou Jince's "Linghai Lanyan" still have certain reference value today.
Orchid's dietary therapy or medicinal value
The medical information and health dietary therapy information on Hugarden 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 personnel, and the treatment of any disease should follow a doctor's advice.
Ultimate flower-protecting mission: love yourself, proceed from reality, and strictly follow a doctor's advice. Toward illness, do not be careless, do not delay, do not give up hope; face it bravely, warm the silent world with love, and care for the flower field in your heart with your heart.
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; decocting jianlan roots and taking the liquid is said to be an excellent medicine for inducing labor. The leaves treat whooping cough, the fruit can stop vomiting, and the seeds treat eye opacity. The whole plant of huilan can treat women's diseases, and the whole plant of chunlan treats neurasthenia, roundworms, hemorrhoids and other diseases. Jianlan leaves can treat deficiency of lung qi in the weak (also written as liver qi). Orchid flower stems can treat malignant ringworm. Plain-heart orchid petals can induce labor. The plain-heart petals of huilan, dried in the shade, 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 a difficult birth, one should quickly bring a pot of "labor-inducing flowers" into the delivery room, and when the pregnant woman smells the orchid fragrance, she will give birth smoothly. Whether this has a scientific basis remains to be verified by obstetrics and gynecology experts.
China's traditional orchids are precious flowers with graceful posture and rich fragrance (the fragrance of kings). But physicians of past dynasties summarized very little about their medicinal value. The whole orchid plant can be used as medicine. Its nature is neutral, its taste 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 clinically to various internal and gynecological conditions. Summarized as follows:
1. Nourish yin fluid, promote fluid production and moisten dryness, treating the sequelae of dry mouth and excessive thirst after radiotherapy for malignant tumors.
[Ming] Li Shizhen, "Bencao Gangmu": "Orchid, odor pungent, neutral, sweet, non-toxic." "Its qi is clear and fragrant, promotes fluid production and quenches thirst, moistens muscles, and treats consumptive thirst and gallbladder jaundice." "...To treat consumptive thirst, promote fluid production and make a drink, 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, achieving certain curative effects, but causing some degree of damage to and functional impact on tissues and organs near the tumor. For example, radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, malignant tumors of the salivary glands (mucoepidermoid carcinoma) and cancer 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 and burning throat, dry tongue and scorched lips, and thirst with a desire to drink. Using orchids can treat this condition after radiotherapy for malignant tumors, with very good curative effect.
According to clinical experience, radiotherapy patients with malignant tumors in different parts and organs have better results when combined with some Chinese herbal medicines. For example, for radiotherapy patients with laryngeal cancer, it should be used together with shandougen, baimaogen and dandelion; for radiotherapy patients with esophageal cancer, it should be used together with ban zhilian, baihua sheshecao, xiakucao, lingxian and the like.
2. Clear heat and cool blood, nourish yin and moisten the lungs, treating dry cough and prolonged cough, and lung hemoptysis.
Modern traditional Chinese medicine research shows that the whole plant of jianlan has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, nourishing yin and moistening the lungs, and it is clinically often used for hemoptysis in pulmonary tuberculosis and for regulating the symptoms of prolonged cough and unceasing dry cough.
To treat patients with mild to moderate hemoptysis from pulmonary tuberculosis, use 50-100 grams of fresh jianlan roots, mash and squeeze the juice or decoct in water and take, 2 times a day, with noticeable effect in 4-6 days.
To treat patients with unceasing dry cough, use 30-50 orchid stamens, decoct in water, add rock sugar, 2 times a day, and take for 3-5 days for remarkable effect. This conforms to the statement in "Bencao Gangmu" that "orchid mainly treats blood production, regulates qi, nourishes the nutritive qi, and removes phlegm accumulation in the chest."
3. Regulate qi and harmonize blood, drain dampness and reduce swelling, treating urinary tract infections and women's leukorrhea.
According to "Bencao Gangmu Shiyi": "The yellow orchid, called honey orchid, can stop diarrhea and leukorrhea, promote water passages, kill parasitic toxins, reduce abscesses and swelling, regulate menstruation; taken over a long time it boosts qi, lightens the body, prevents aging, and communicates with the spirits." Modern 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 grams of orchid roots, 30 grams of maogen and 30 grams 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 grams of orchid roots, 30 grams of tianmendong, 30 grams of lily and 1 free-range farm chicken, stew together, take the soup and eat the meat, once every 2-3 days, continuously for 2-3 times.
4. Soothe the liver and relieve depression, harmonize qi and blood, treating dizziness and vertigo, 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 boredom, and refreshes the mind.
To treat dizziness and vertigo (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 jianlan removes stale qi and relieves depression" and "honey-pickled green orchid taken as tea harmonizes qi and blood, comforts the middle and sobers one from alcohol."
Use 50 grams of orchid roots, 20 grams of canna root, and 20 grams of Cynanchum paniculatum, 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 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 powerfully disperse long-accumulated stale and stagnant qi, that is, those placed on the right today," to treat constipation, stagnation and accumulation of the large and small intestines, thick greasy tongue coating, dry throat and lung dryness, and foul bad breath, use 20-30 autumn orchid flowers and 50 g orchid leaves, decoct in water, and when lukewarm add 30 g 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 grams of fresh orchid roots, wash clean, mash and apply to the affected area, to treat traumatic injuries, subcutaneous bleeding and muscle tumors.
Edible value
(1) Floral fragrance can scent tea
Orchid fragrance is clear and mellow; used to scent tea, the quality is the highest. In orchid-producing areas or large-scale orchid nurseries, orchid tea has development prospects.
According to records: "The flowers can assist tea, and the paste can substitute for a drink." In Fujian Province, villagers pickle jianlan flowers in honey and then drink it. There is also the record: "Using salted plum dried and steeped to obtain juice called plum oil, used to soak fresh flowers as a fragrance." In Japan's ancient capital, to the east of Kyoto, there is an old little shop that for decades has sold its ancestral "orchid tea". This is made by picking chunlan flowers produced on the northern mountains of Kyoto, drying them semi-dry by a special method, then salting them and packing them in small clay bottles. When using, take two flowers and put them in a teacup, pour boiling water over them and drink. After soaking in water, the orchids recover their original shape, both beautiful and with a special fragrance; the flavor when drinking is extraordinary. The flowers can also be eaten at the same time.
(2) Flowers can be eaten
The flowers can be made into soup. According to records, the flowers can be added to soup; when about to add them to soup, first blanch them with hot water; the flower color is fresh and the soup tastes delicious. Orchids can be used as a dish, and are a famous Sichuan dish at banquets, with a clear fragrance filling the air and lingering around the table, unforgettable for a lifetime once eaten. Famous dishes in Sichuan cuisine include "orchid shredded tripe", "orchid shredded pork" and the like, and "orchid buns" are also endlessly flavorful.
Orchid cultural background: Chinese painting orchids
China's orchid culture has a history of more than 2,000 years since the beginning of orchid appreciation. The ancient veneration of orchids embodies the characteristics of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Literati and writers of past dynasties praised orchids everywhere, referring not only to the orchid's elegant form but even more to its clear and secluded fragrance.
The orchid's appearance is simple and elegant, its leaf shape slender and soft, its flower posture beautiful, plain and delicately fragrant, possessing the temperament of "clear color, clear qi, clear spirit and clear charm"; it is also called junzilan (gentleman's orchid), indicating that orchids are close to the gentleman. Literati preferred to plant, appreciate, chant, paint and write about orchids, having an orchid complex they could never shake off.
Poetry, lyrics, songs and fu
(Tang) Li Bai
A lone orchid grows in a secluded garden, amid the masses of grass all overgrown.
Though it is lit by the spring sunshine, it grieves again under the high autumn moon.
Flying frost falls early with a rustling sound; its green brilliance may soon cease.
If there were no clear breeze to blow, for whom would its fragrance be released?
Guang Qunfang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
An orchid grows in a secluded valley with no one to know it; a traveler planted it by the eastern window and left me its fragrance.
I know it has a clear fragrance that can dispel foulness, and I love even more its fine leaves that deftly brave the frost.
Its roots settle among dense stones and its autumn fragrance comes early; leaning in clumps against tall bamboo, it is cool in the midday shade.
I would leave it with asarum together beneath the hall; before my eyes I constantly see the verses of Chu.
Guang Qunfang Pu
(Qing) Liu Hao
Weeping dew makes its light especially disordered; holding the wind, its shadow slants by itself.
How can vulgar people understand this? They look at the leaves and find them better than the flowers.
Ode to Orchid (Yuan) Yu Tonglu
With my own hands I cultivated two or three orchid plants; as the days warmed and the wind was gentle, they bloomed one after another.
Sitting long, I did not know the fragrance was in the room; when I pushed open the window, butterflies sometimes flew in.
Huanxisha - Orchid
As if in a bronze vase one sees dew-covered sprouts; sparse flowers, cold and fallen, faintly holding charm.
Clear tears of the Xiang River drip into the spring tide; how could heart and heart alike be lovely?
And no leaf helps its graceful bearing; one heartbroken collection is the Lisao.
Ode to Orchid (modern) Zhu De
In Yuexiu Park's grove of flowers and trees, a hundred flowers bloom together, each contending in spring.
Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, for a time prized throughout the city of Five Rams.
Secluded Orchid (Tang) Cui Tu
Planted in seclusion, who among the masses knows it? It holds its fragrance only in secret.
Since it has no gentleman to wear it, it is not that its national fragrance has declined.
White dew moistens it long and early; the spring wind always arrives late.
It is not as good as the roadside grass; what is its rich fragrance for!
Orchid (Song Dynasty) Yang Wanli
By snowy paths it stealthily opens pale blue flowers, ice-cold roots wildly send up small red shoots.
Born without the peach-and-plum face of spring breeze, its fame lies in the homes of mountain-forest recluses.
Only because its national fragrance reaches the court and market, it will not let its frosty integrity age among the clouds.
River banks and garden basil are no match for me; leave it to the poets to settle the ranks.
Inscription on a Painting of Orchid (Qing Dynasty) Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao)
Its body is atop a thousand mountain peaks, in jutting rocks and deep crevices its wondrous fragrance is thick.
It is not that there are no floating clouds stirring beneath its feet; they come without knowing it and leave without staying.
Contemporary Poems in Praise of Orchid
Ancient Style [Huzhou] Yao Danping
I do not vie for favor with the jade grasses, but only seek to meet the clear breeze often;
I wish to spread fragrance everywhere, fulfilling a heart full of ardent passion.
Orchid Yu Yafei
Among the clumps of grass by the roadside there is an orchid, revealing no heroic posture and showing no splendor;
Only when its subtle fragrance permeates the heart and lungs does one realize a rare flower hides in the garden.
Famous Figures and Orchids
Confucius Praises the Orchid
Confucius was extremely fond of orchids. Because he placed special emphasis on the cultivation of personal moral character, he reposed deep feelings in the orchid. In the book Kongzi Jiayu (The School Sayings of Confucius), collected and compiled by Wang Su of the Wei of the Three Kingdoms, a celebrated passage 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 as good as himself. If you do not know a son, look at his father; from this the conclusion is drawn that "a gentleman must be careful about where he places himself." From then on, "the chamber of irises and orchids" (zhilan zhi shi) 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 responded to the invitation and set out from Chen and Cai. "The grand officers of Chen and Cai plotted together, saying: Confucius is a sage and worthy; everything he criticizes hits the maladies 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 went without food for seven days; there was no communication with the outside, the wild-vegetable soup was not filling, and his followers all fell ill, yet Confucius lectured all the more fervently, and his singing to the zither never ceased." At this point Zilu said: "I have heard that Heaven rewards those who do good with blessings and those who do evil with calamity. Now you, Master, have accumulated virtue and embraced righteousness, and have put it into practice for a long time; why have you been reduced to such poverty and hardship?" Thereupon Confucius enumerated the worthy and virtuous men in history, such 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, and whether one is worthy or unworthy is a matter of ability; there are many gentlemen of broad learning and deep planning who do not meet with the right time, so why should it be I 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 demonstrate 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 (Orchid Islet Mountain), a small hill on the south face twenty-five li from the city, faces the ancient Jian Lake to the east and backs onto Kuaiji Mountain to the west, truly 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 potted 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 guarantees.
Regarding Goujian planting orchids on Zhushan, there are many historical records. Besides the Baoqing Xu Kuaiji Zhi, for example the Shaoxing Fuzhi from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty records: Lanzhu Mountain, there is a plant there, with long leaves and white flowers, the flower has a national fragrance, its name is orchid, 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 Gu that Goujian, in planting orchids, must have chosen the site, and that Lanzhu today is that place. The Shaoxing Dizhi Shulue records: Lanzhu Mountain, twenty-seven li south of the city, Goujian planted orchids there. Because Goujian planted orchids on Zhushan, later generations named Zhushan Lanzhu Mountain, named the market below Lanzhu Mountain Flower Street, and named the post station below Lanzhu Mountain Lanting.
Qu Yuan Wears the Orchid
Qu Yuan (c. 340 - early 278 BCE), a great poet of the Warring States period. His given name was Ping, his courtesy name Yuan, his sobriquet Lingjun, also known as Zhengze. He was a man of Chu. The Shiji: Biography of Qu Yuan says of him: "He was broadly learned and strongly remembering, clear about the principles of order and disorder, and skilled in speech." But his political views met with fierce opposition from the old bureaucratic aristocracy, and King Huai of Chu, on whom he relied, was dim-witted and incompetent, unable to distinguish the loyal from the treacherous. As a result, he believed slanderous words and grew angry with Qu Yuan and banished him. By the time of King Qingxiang of Chu, Qu Yuan suffered even greater misfortune and was long exiled to the Yuan and Xiang region. Qu Yuan met with poverty and hardship, but his resolve did not change; his conduct became even more incorruptible: "I cannot change my heart and follow the vulgar crowd, and so I will end in grief and poverty!" He expressed this resolve to think of his ruler and love his country, and his feeling of setting the times right and aiding the world, through many fragrant flowers and rare plants, stirring emotion upon touching things and seeking objects to lodge his resolve; moreover he made new developments in this technique of comparison and evocation, thus blending object and self, emotion and scene into one, greatly expanding the realm and expressive power of poetry. In selecting fragrant flowers and rare plants, Qu Yuan especially selected the orchid, and so in many poems such as Li Sao, Jiu Ge, and Jiu Zhang, 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 planted nine wan of orchids, and again set out a hundred mu of irises... when the branches and leaves are tall and luxuriant, I wish to wait for the time and then I will cut them." He took the orchid as a friend and as a kindred spirit: "The time is darkening and will soon end; I tie the hidden orchid and linger." He took the orchid as an ornament, expressing his own integrity of keeping himself pure: "I wear Jiangli and Bizhi, and thread autumn orchids to wear as a girdle." He also worried that the orchid might wither in the autumn wind and cold dew and follow the vulgar crowd, changing its integrity and losing its fragrance: "The times are in confusion and changing, how can I stay long? The orchid and angelica have changed and lost their fragrance; the sweet flag and the reed have turned into thatch." The above are only a few examples of orchids cited in Li Sao, from which one can see how much 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 an evocation upon touching a thing, but a symbol, an entrustment, a pursuit of spirit and character.
Zheng Sixiao's Paintings
Zheng Sixiao (1241-1318), a 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 the Song imperial surname Zhao. His courtesy name was Yiweng, indicating that 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 he sat and lay facing south to show his longing for the former dynasty and his shame at serving as a turncoat official of the Yuan; the orchids he painted never included soil or roots, as if floating in the air. When people asked him about it, he said: "The land has been seized by the foreign people, do you not know?" Or he answered: "The national territory has already been seized by the foreign people, how could I be willing to let them touch the ground?"
After the fall of the Song, Zheng Suonan vowed never to have dealings with the northerners. People knew he was eccentric, and did not find it strange. He lived in seclusion at Wuxia, 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 to sacrifice to his ancestors. Whenever a taboo-name day came, he would wail greatly below the temple, and the gentleman also lodged and boarded at the temple. His room was bare and desolate, and he always sat facing south. When the powerful and eminent sought his orchids, he was especially stingy and would not give them. But ordinary people and children who somewhat agreed with his intention, he would instead give to them. The county magistrate sought them and did not get them; knowing that he had land, he then 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, he would weep toward the southern wilds 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 refinement. Once painted, he would immediately destroy them and not recklessly give them to others, and so the orchids he left to the world are extremely few; now only one painting, the Ink Orchid, survives, 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 especially a master of a generation in painting orchids, bamboo, flowers, and plants.
History calls it "Banqiao has three excellences: painting, poetry, and calligraphy; among the three excellences there are again three truths: true spirit, true meaning, and true delight." His calligraphy formed its own style, half clerical and half regular, called "six-and-a-half-tenths script," with the delight of crisscrossing irregularity and lean, hard, strikingly steep qualities. His poetry reflected life, said something substantive, and had the characteristics of being vivid and popular. Matching such poetry and calligraphy with his orchid paintings made his paintings even more full of interest and true spirit. His "three truths" were an expression of his inner heart, concentratedly showing sympathy for the sufferings of the people. He said: among all people between heaven and earth, the first class is 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 there were no farmers in the world, everyone in the world would starve to death. Therefore his painting of orchids was precisely 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 or paint stones, it is to comfort the laboring people of the world, not to serve those who sit in comfort 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 cliff-wall orchids and thorn-bush orchids. Among Banqiao's orchid paintings, the most numerous and most worth savoring are the pictures of orchid, bamboo, and stone. This is certainly the tradition of ancient orchid painting and a feature of the "Eight Eccentrics" flower paintings, but it is also his creation and his outstanding achievement. In his orchid-and-bamboo paintings he often added stone, believing that "one bamboo, one orchid, one stone, have integrity, fragrance, and bone," and "orchid, bamboo, and stone, appear in succession; the great gentleman cannot be separated from them."
Banqiao's paintings of orchid, bamboo, and stone reached the highest peak, and his inscription poems played the role of adding the finishing touch, such as: "Half green mountain and half bamboo, half green shade and half jade. Please, when your tea is brewed and you wake from sleep, facing this you will feel as if you are in a stone house." "A patch of green mountain and a patch of orchid, orchid fragrance and bamboo green are pleasing to view. Dongting and Yunmeng three thousand li, filled with spring breeze without feeling cold." "On the stone spreads orchid and further spreads bamboo, a beauty accompanies them in the secluded valley. May I ask from where the east wind blows? It blows into the Xiang waves, a river of green."
Lu Xun Gathers Orchids
Several generations of Lu Xun's family loved orchids. On November 14, 1933, Lu Xun, in a letter to Yamamoto Hatsukoto, said, "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 Yu the Great 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. When they reached the Mausoleum of Yu the Great, they toured the Yu Temple and the Bianshi Pavilion, then went up Kuaiji Mountain to gather orchids. Later, Lu Xun wrote about this mountain trip as the Xin Hai You Lu, published in the first issue of the Yue She Congkan published in February 1912, under the signature "Qiaofeng of Kuaiji, Zhou Jianren."
Regarding that orchid-gathering trip 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, our trip was truly not in vain!' Back home, we carefully potted the orchids. Later, when the eldest, at the invitation of Mr. Cai Yuanpei, went to Beijing to take up a post, at first he wanted to take the orchids with him, but in the end did not take them because the journey was so far. Before leaving, he especially instructed me to grow these several pots of orchids well. Not long after, I too was hired to teach at a school, and usually rarely went home; later, the 'one-leaf orchid' finally died. In order not to pain the eldest, I never told him this news."
In the late 1920s, Lu Xun moved to Shanghai. Whenever around the time of Awakening of Insects, when people passed by Lu Xun's residence, the subtle fragrance of orchids would come rushing to their faces. In Shanghai he also became acquainted with the Japanese orchid friend Obara Eijiro. Obara ran a Chinese curios shop in Tokyo called "Kyokado," and also dealt in orchids. 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 had old ties 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. In 1931, when the Kuomintang suppressed the writers of the Left League, Lu Xun took refuge in the garden villa hotel opened by the Japanese, and it happened that Obara was about to return home after selling orchids. Moved by the scene, and using the matter of a friend carrying orchids back east, he expressed his feelings through the orchid:
Pepper is burned and cinnamon broken, the beauty grows old; alone it leans on the secluded rock and unfolds its pure heart.
How would it begrudge its fragrance to those far away? The native place, as if drunk, is full of thorns and brambles.
Zhu De's Love of Orchids
Throughout his life Zhu De had a special affection for orchids; whether in the years of war or in times of peace, his fondness for orchids was constant. Orchids not only brought Zhu De great pleasure in life, but also let people see his side full of life's delights and delicate feelings.
In his early years, while serving in the army in Yunnan, Zhu De had already begun to like orchids. In the intervals between marches and battles, he often gathered orchids here and there, transplanting them to admire, and from this accumulated some knowledge about orchid varieties and cultivation.
In 1928, the troops of the Nanchang Uprising led by Zhu De and the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising led by Mao Zedong triumphantly joined forces at Jinggangshan. The mountains southeast of Ciping in Jinggangshan abound in all kinds of orchids, especially the Jinggang orchid, and the place is 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 out 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 much-told tale that "in those years Commander Zhu introduced orchids, and their fragrance drifted eight hundred li along the Hunan-Jiangxi border," and it was even woven into a red ballad to be sung: "Commander Zhu carried over the waters of the Xiang River, watering the Jinggang orchids into bloom."
Far removed from the era of gunfire and smoke, 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 great interest to parks or the mountains and wilds to seek orchids, and when he encountered good varieties, he would bring them back to Beijing and cultivate them carefully. If he came upon a flower exhibition, he would certainly not miss it. His footprints covered almost all the main orchid-producing regions, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou, and Hainan Island. It is said that in February 1961, when he went to visit Gushan in Fuzhou, passing an old tree, he looked up and said there were orchids in the tree, and everyone was half doubtful. So someone climbed the tree to look, and indeed gathered a bunch of orchids from the tree.
Under Zhu De's both scientific and careful care, the several thousand pots of precious 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 garden 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 recollections of an old gardener at the park: "Marshal Zhu often gave us orchids, such as 'Haiyan Qifei' from Hainan Island, Guangdong's ink orchid, 'Yuchen Dagong,' 'Yinbian Dagong,' 'Jinsi Mawei,' Sichuan's multi-flowered orchid, summer iris, 'Longchang Su,' 'Heqi Lüyi,' Zhejiang's 'Quzhou Su,' Yunnan's 'Dahong She' and autumn orchid, and so on." In addition, Zhu De also gave the orchid books he had collected to garden 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 splendor 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 garden in Yuexiu Park in Guangzhou, he improvised the poem "Visiting Yuexiu Park": "In Yuexiu Park's grove of flowers and trees, a hundred flowers all bloom, each contending in spring. Only the orchid's fragrance is just right, for a time the most precious in the city of Five Rams." In the late autumn of the same year, Zhu De once wrote a seven-character quatrain to describe the pleasure he obtained in his diligent labor: "The hidden orchid, radiant, waits for winter to bloom, its green leaves reflected on the painted terrace. Just opening its red blossoms, dew drops fall; its fragrance fills ten paces, coming 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 all shine forth together. 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, still coiling its roots beside the common grasses. Even if no one sees and admires it, it still gains its place and naturally 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 Inspiration at the Thatched Cottage," among which one is an orchid poem: "The hidden orchid comes out of the valley, delicate and slender; moved to the thatched cottage, it is willing to bow. Who says its fragrant grace does not understand feeling? Accompanying the Ministry of Works, it puts forth new shoots."
On April 20, 1963, while inspecting Sichuan, Zhu De went to Shisun Peak on Mount Emei to seek orchids, and with his own hands planted the orchids he had gathered into pots, saying to the accompanying staff: "The ancients said that 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 I will come to see these orchids again." And he improvised a ci poem, "Parrot Song: Gathering Orchids at Shisun Peak": "On Mount Emei I lodge as fate allows, in the secluded valley of Shisun Peak I play the immortal father. Pine and bamboo, friends and companions, always shine upon one another, together enduring mist, clouds, wind, and rain. The wise man, knowing me, comes to visit and seek; my vow is to follow you onward. If I may be offered up as national fragrance, my immortal fragrant name will remain in every place."
Zhu De composed about 40 orchid poems in his lifetime. These poems truly reflect what Zhu De felt and realized in the course of seeking, growing, and admiring orchids, and are full of Zhu De's praise and love for orchids. In Zhu De's view, growing orchids had many uses. On February 6, 1961, when Zhu De visited Fuzhou West Lake Park, on walking to the orchid nursery, he said to Chen Shizhang of the Fuzhou Municipal Garden Management Office: "The Liuxiang Ravine in the Wuyi Mountains produces many orchids; they should be widely gathered and propagated in large quantities as export goods, which can both participate in international cultural exchange and enrich the contents of orchid catalogs." On January 1, 1963, while inspecting the South China Botanical Garden, he again said to the person in charge of the botanical 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 flowers such as orchids 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 admired 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. Throughout his life he strove with unwavering resolve 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 and noble orchid whose fragrance lasts long!
The Language of Orchids
The flower language, symbolism, and representative meaning of the orchid are: indifference to fame and gain, 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 more famous ones are Phalaenopsis, Cymbidium, and Cymbidium faberi. In fact, each has its own flower language, but the general flower language of the orchid is indifference to fame and gain, and elegance. [8]
Violet: everlasting beauty
Freesia: pure, innocent
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 gain, elegance, beauty, nobility, virtue
Orchid Pictures
How Much Do You Know About Orchids?
The earliest recorded orchid catalog is:
Southern Song -- Zhao Shigeng, Jinzhang Lan Pu (1233)
Wang Guixue, Lan Pu (1247)
Earliest woodcut of an orchid family plant: Northern Song "Zhenglei Bencao,"
"Shihu and Tianma" (1803)
Earliest Chinese orchid poem:
Late Tang -- Tang Yanlian, "Singing of the Orchid" (860-880)
Earliest spring orchid poem:
Late Tang -- Yang Kui, "On Planting Orchids" (880-890)
Earliest orchid watercolor gongbi painting:
Northern Song (960-1126) watercolor gongbi round fan painting of Cymbidium faberi
Earliest poem on painting an orchid: Zhao Mengjian (twelfth-generation descendant of Zhao Kuangyin, emperor of the Southern Song)
The opening formula for painting an orchid:
"Dragon whiskers and phoenix eyes bring clear seclusion, flower and leaf uneven, do not let them bump heads.
Rat tails and nail heads are all acceptable; cut intestines and broken arms are also elegant."
Among the famous paintings preserved in museums around the world, there are 33 "orchid scrolls" by 11 painters of the Ming Dynasty and 101 by 32 painters of the Qing Dynasty.
Li Shizhen recorded in detail the differences between the orchid and the fragrant herb (Cymbidium faberi), orchid grass, and Eupatorium, pointing out: "The orchid always grows in the mountains, and is utterly different from the sanlian. The orchid that grows nearby has leaves like Ophiopogon and blooms in spring; the one that grows in Fujian has leaves like pipe thatch and blooms in autumn." He not only made clear the difference between the orchid and other orchids, but also distinguished the spring orchid and the Jian orchid.
The orchid and the Three Friends of Winter. Wang Xuetang (1247), in Lan Pu, made a comparison with the Three Friends of Winter: pine, bamboo, and plum: "Bamboo has integrity but is stingy with flowers, plum has flowers but is stingy with leaves, pine has leaves but is stingy with flowers, yet the orchid has all of them."
An exact record of the orchid: Huang Tingjian (1045-****), in his book Youlan Fang Ting, wrote: "When orchid and iris are planted with sand and stone they flourish, and when watered with hot tea they are fragrant; this they have in common. As for their blooming, the one with one stem and one flower whose fragrance is more than enough is the orchid; the one with one stem and five or seven flowers whose fragrance is not enough is the iris."
In the early period at the end of the Song, those who used orchids to inscribe their resolve and matched paintings with poems include: Zheng Sixiao (1241-1318), who called himself "Suonan Weng."
An orchid painting made on January 15, 1306 is now in Japan. The inscription poem on the orchid painting: "I bow my head and ask the sun's brightness, who are you to speak of this place? Before there was painting, the nostrils opened, and the ancient fragrance floated through the whole sky." It received praise and admiration.
Different appreciation of orchid colors: China favors plain colors, simplicity, and cleanliness, beautiful but not bewitching.
Japan favors yellow.
Europe and America pursue bright reds and greens, dazzling to the eye.
When is the World Orchid Conference held: once every three years.
Worldwide orchid periodicals:
-- The monthly orchid magazine Orchid Review (Orchid Rerier), founded in Britain in 1993, is devoted to introducing orchid horticulture, and has become a specialized periodical for publishing and registering orchid names worldwide.
What is meant by national beauty and national fragrance?
A scholar whose talent and virtue surpass the whole country is called a national scholar,
A woman whose beauty surpasses the whole country is called a national beauty,
An orchid whose fragrance surpasses the whole country is called a national fragrance.
Song Huang Tingjian
The source of the Four Prohibitions of orchid growing. Gao Lian (1591), in Lan Pu, Zunsheng Bajian, records: in spring do not bring them out, to avoid the wind and snow of spring; in summer do not expose them to the sun, to avoid the melting heat of the blazing sun; in autumn do not let them dry out, they should be watered; in winter do not let them stay wet, they should be stored in the ground, and should not be exposed to water that freezes into ice.
Orchids chosen as national flowers:
-- In April 1981, Singapore designated a kind of Vanda, "Zhuojin" Vanda, as its national flower. "Zhuojin" Vanda is a tropical orchid, blooming in all four seasons with a fragrance that assails people; its leaves are broad and thick, long like ribbons, and its stem reaches as high as 1.2 m, upright and gracefully standing. It is one of Singapore's 4000 kinds of tropical orchids. Singaporeans name it "Hu Ji" (Orchid); the flower is purple, the petals deep purple with spots, and the middle part of the flower is deep rose; it is a best-selling export commodity of Singapore.
-- Tropical orchids: Brazil and Colombia chose them as their national flowers.
The most expensive orchid in the world: Taiwan's Daruma orchid, with a single plant reaching a highest price of 19 million New Taiwan dollars. In 1988 it reached as much as 2 million Hong Kong dollars, earning the reputation of "king of flowers." The Daruma orchid is one of the one-leaf orchids; those producing one bud a year are many, those producing two buds are few; propagated by division of buds, in 10 years one can get 300 buds. In 1998, those of commercial value on the whole island of Taiwan numbered no more than 6000 buds.
Elegant names for Chinese orchids: fragrance of kings, national fragrance, national orchid, beauty of the empty valley, modest gentleman, elegant scholar, secluded guest.
Chinese symbolic metaphors for orchids: beauty, tranquility, peace, elegance, firmness of resolve, refined elegance, virtuous worth, simplicity.
Trad i tional Chinese Orchid
Traditional Chinese orchids mostly refer to those among the plants of the orchid family genus Cymbidium
of the five major categories: spring orchid, Cymbidium faberi, Jian orchid, ink orchid, and cold orchid. This genus has altogether 3
subgenera and 14 sections. Our country has orchids of these three subgenera and 11 sections,
namely 3 sections of the subgenus Cymbidium, 4 sections of the large-flowered orchid subgenus, and 4 sections of the Jian orchid subgenus
.
Subgenus Cymbidium: hard-leaf section, ribbon-leaf section, multi-flowered section.
Large-flowered orchid subgenus: spotted-lip orchid section, taro orchid section, large-flowered section (tiger
head orchid, cicada orchid, etc.), axillary-flowered section.
Jian orchid subgenus: saprophytic section, negative-ear section, Jian orchid section, spring orchid section.
The traditional five major categories have cultivation records in our country since the Tang Dynasty, and it is the country that cultivates
and possesses the most enthusiasts. Chinese people call this the national orchid or
Chinese orchid; foreigners call it the Oriental orchid, and Japanese call it the Eastern orchid.
Traditional orchids all have small, light-colored flowers with fragrance and narrow, long leaves, whereas today large-flowered
types such as tiger-head orchid and cicada orchid, through repeated hybridization, have formed many new species with large flowers and brilliant
colors, greatly welcomed by people at home and abroad.
Domestically Produced Ornamental Orchids
Besides the traditional ornamental orchids and Cymbidium plants, Chinese orchids still have
more than 200 species. Wild orchids are gradually being discovered and are entering the mainstream of ornamental orchids.
Genera, the main genera include:
Cypripedium Paphiopedilum Calanthe Phaius Pleione
Cymbidium Vanda Dendrobium Aerides Holcoglossum