What Variety Is the Queen of Spring Orchids? Characteristics and Care Tips

Spring Orchid Queen - Luyun  
       The Spring Orchid Luyun was discovered in the Jimao year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1869 AD) at Daqingli, Wuyun Mountain, Hangzhou. Wuyun Mountain lies between the Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies and Yunqi in Hangzhou, at an altitude of 334 m, with deep and elegant ridges, where the green of the surrounding hills gathers and condenses, a scene of lush verdure, and it is a famous high mountain among the peaks of the West Lake scenic area. There is also a folk tale that Guanyin, on her way to the Western Heaven to pay homage to the Buddha, passed by this mountain and lingered there, forgetting to return, and dropped a lotus flower that turned into five-colored auspicious clouds. Legend has it that a widow surnamed Chen, who lived in Liuxia Town on the western outskirts of Hangzhou, saw on her way to Hangzhou to file a complaint, in the dead hollow of an old plum tree by the roadside, an orchid of unique shape giving off a delicate fragrance, and she picked it and put it in her hair, and wherever she passed, bystanders caught a faint, elegant scent. The widow Chen's uncles bullied her for being alone and tried to seize her house and land; unwilling to be humiliated, she went to Hangzhou city to file a complaint, and as it happened she passed the long-famous Shao Zhiyan Brush Shop, and the orchid in her hair attracted the shop owner Mr. Shao Zhiyan, who was a passionate lover of orchids. Shao Zhiyan immediately sought out the widow and asked about the origin of the orchid, but the widow ignored him and just kept walking on, for she was in a very bad mood because of the lawsuit. Once Boss Shao learned the whole story, he said to her: “As long as you take me to find this orchid, I will definitely help you win your lawsuit.” The widow finally agreed to take him to find this orchid, and thus Luyun, the peerless treasure among orchids that had long dwelt deep in the mountains, finally appeared before the world. Later, Shao Zhiyan even used the image of Luyun as the trademark of his Zhilan brand writing brushes, which has continued in use to this day. In the end, widow Chen also won her lawsuit, and Shao Zhiyan spent quite a lot of silver for this, hence the saying that Shao Zhiyan purchased this orchid at a high price. The discovery of Luyun was purely accidental, but it was collected and cultivated by a mindful person and thus passed down; this too is only a legend.
Luyun is known as the queen among Spring Orchids, and owning it is the ultimate goal of orchid growers.   About ninety years ago, Hu Zhitian of Yuyao, in order to obtain the rare flower Luyun, specially rode a horse to Shao Zhiyan's home in Hangzhou and bought one seedling and a half of old grass for 1440 silver yuan, and returned home happily, but due to a cultivation mistake, it failed to survive. Later, Jin Laogao, the son-in-law of Zhu Youren of Shaoxing, brought three clumps of Luyun from the Shao Zhiyan Brush Shop in Hangzhou, asking 4400 silver yuan, and Hu Xiaoyan's mother, Madam Huang, purchased and cultivated them at that price; in the same year after planting, two new clumps sprouted and were divided into two pots. After many years of growing them, more than one hundred clumps were produced in succession, and they have been passed down to this day. (Excerpted from "Hu Xiaoyan of the Orchid-Growing Family Talks About Luyun")
 Luyun is a multi-petal lotus-type rare variety, with short and broad outer petals, contracted at the base and flared at the corners, mussel-shell-shaped inner petals, and a liuha i tongue. The leaves are short, broad, thick and glutinous, slanting upright, 10—20 cm long and 0.7—1.1 cm wide; the basal leaves of mature plants are slightly twisted into a bow shape, the veins are white and bright and extremely fine, the leaf color is deep green with an unusually brilliant luster, and the serrations on the leaf margins are sparse, with only a slight fine toothing on the middle margin of the central leaf; most leaves are V-shaped, the foot sheaths clasp tightly and do not scatter, and the leaf tips are blunt and rounded. The new shoots are jade-green like emerald, with a slight pink flush, and they sprout relatively late, generally not emerging until late June to early July. The flower buds are pale pink-purple, adorned with coarse, sparse purplish-red stripes; the bracts are broad and large, fully enclosing the flower bud; the bud is round and full, and the bud sheath has a purplish-red sandy blush with green coloration. The flower stalk is 6-8 cm tall, thick and round, green with a light purple cloud, gradually turning pale green at the top node, bearing 1—2 flowers. The petals are short and round, and the flower color is emerald green, very delicate and charming. According to ancient orchid manuals, one stalk with two flowers can open fully with 20 petals, and a single flower opens 10 petals; usually there are 5 sepals, 4 inner petals, and 1 lip petal, or 4 sepals, 4 inner petals, and 2 tongues, and it is said there can be 3 tongues. When Luyun opens 8—10 petals, its symmetry is good, varied and colorful, unpredictable, and sometimes butterfly-like variation appears on the petals, very beautiful; there are also those that open only normal lotus-type flowers, but this is merely due to weak plants or impure varieties. Most Luyun on the market now comes from tissue-cultured seedlings from South Korea, and there are also techno-orchids such as Luyun Guan and Luyun Xue and other variegated Luyun, but these are not the true Luyun; these plants are tall, and their spirit, fragrance, and flower shape differ greatly from the original old variety of Luyun.  However, Luyun opening 7 to 8 petals is already rare, and those that can open a full 9 to 10 petals are almost impossible to find.
     For a long time people have said Luyun is difficult to grow, but in fact this is because they have not mastered its habits. Luyun likes coolness, needs sufficient light, and should see more morning sunlight; it is suitable for somewhat dry growing, requires a well-ventilated environment with fresh, unpolluted air, and the growing medium must have good permeability and retain water and nutrients. In management, apply light fertilizer frequently, and it is not advisable to divide the plants too often; as long as you treat Luyun with an ordinary mind, you will certainly be able to grow it with abundant flowers and lush leaves.