In the wild Cymbidium goeringii is most commonly seen as a green flowered plant with a white lip. On rare occasions flowers with brownish-orange flushing in the sepals and petals, or dirty yellow color can be found. Only very rarely is a pure red, orange, or yellow flowered plant discovered. All of these special forms are coveted by shunran growers, and high quality flowering clones command equally high prices.
I first was introduced to these lovely plants at a Japanese orchid show soon after arriving in Kyushu nearly ten years ago. I was floored by the intense red forms in particular, but then I saw a lemon yellow one at a sales bench that was so pure I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. My eagerness to buy the plant was muted the minute I saw the price tag – 30,000 yen or about $300 US at the time.
Cymbidium goeringii ‘Mebina’ – this particular clone is more orange than is normal for the type.
In the intervening years I have seen literally thousands of special forms of Cymbidium goeringii on display and for sale at both small and large orchid shows. One thing I’ve come to understand is that not all of them are lovely things, in fact only a very few select ones are truly beautiful. Having said that, when you see a good clone in full flower it takes your breath away. The following shunran are some of the more lovely red, orange, and yellow ones I’ve seen. The lips of all types are white, some pure white while others are marked with purple spots here and there.
Cymbidium goeringii ‘Mebina’ – this plant has deep red flowers more typical of the form.
One of the better known red to deep orange forms is ‘Mebina’. The following photos show two different plants with different colors with the pure red form being more typical of this type, at least in ones I’ve seen. Another lovely red flower is ‘Benitemari’. Flowers with this rich a color are highly sought after and are very expensive. Perhaps a single lead division might run anywhere from $100-$300, or even more.
The warmer areas of Japan are home to the orange surprise lily, Lycoris sanguinea. It can be seen growing near streams in deciduous woodlands as well as open moist grasslands. While not as showy as its brethren L. radiata, it flowers a full month ahead, right in the midst of the deadly heat of August.
The leaves of Lycoris sanguinea start growth in winter in my garden. They will grow a bit later in colder winter areas.
Just as the rains of the summer monsoon abate and the oven turns on in southern Japan’s forests, this odd flower shows its face. Starting in late July the single flower scape grows with its sheathed clump of buds to height of 40 cm or more. By mid August a loose truss of 3-6 light orange, spidery flowers, with their pistil and stamens protruding well beyond the petals, hang in summer heat. They last up to a week or so before giving in to the sweltering temperatures.
Seed set is fast and by mid fall you hardly know there was a plant growing in that spot. The bulbs are completely subterranean and remain dormant until February when the new leaves begin their growth. These expand quickly in broad arching clumps of blue-green strap-like leaves, 30-60 cm in length. They remain green throughout the spring and early summer monsoon, going down sometime in mid July, a few weeks before the flower stalks initiate.
Lycoris sanguinea is represented by two varieties in Japan, v. sanguinea and v. kiusiana. The latter is a larger plant overall, but otherwise is very similar to the standard type. A third variety, v. koreana, is rare and synonymous with L. koreana, a species found in South Korea and the islands between Japan and Korea. I have not been able to determine which name is considered valid for this type since both are used by various authors.
The flower of Lycoris sanguinea doesn’t quite live up to its name, which means “blood”, but it is still attractive.
Like other members of the genus Lycoris, this species exhibits natural polyploidy, that is, any given plant can have extra sets of chromosomes. Both Japanese varieties are represented by fertile diploids (2n=22), sterile triploids (2n=33), and even some fertile tetraploids (2n=44). This pattern holds for v. koreana as well. Regardless, in general L. sanguinea is a fertile species with regular meiotic division, unlike many Lycoris species and hybrids.
The upshot of all this is that L. sanguinea is self reproducing by seed and its distribution throughout southern Japan from the Kanto Region of Honshu southward to Shikoku and Kyushu speaks to this. It also means this species is a useful parent in producing new Lycoris hybrids – a somewhat rare trait in this bizarre genus.
I first came across this species one late winter day on the largest mountain in the Fukuoka City area, Mt. Sefuri. Free flowing, dam-free rivers are a rarity in much of southern Japan and Mt. Sefuri has a lovely stream that has been altered little through the years. Its banks also retain the natural flora of the area, including a largely deciduous forest at the relatively high elevation (600~1000 meters). Forests just a couple kilometers away at lower elevations are dominated by broad leaf subtropical evergreen trees.
The bulbs of Lycoris sanguinea look much like Amaryllis, which isn’t surprising since they are closely related.
While walking up the stream and admiring its aquamarine blue plunge pools, I noticed a broad leafed plant not unlike a Narcissus species coming into growth. It was growing in clumps here and there all along the watercourse and surrounding forest. As I headed further upstream I was confronted with fields of them growing in a near carpet under the leafless trees. Huh, now what kind of plant was this? I took a few bulbs that had been washed out from the winter snow melt at the river’s bank and headed home. The plants grew well for me and went dormant midsummer. Continue reading “Japan’s orange surprise lily, Lycoris sanguinea”
New Paphiopedilum hybrids with one or more parents from the subgenus Parvisepalum have been increasing in number steadily since the 1990’s, such that today they have become common in slipper orchid collections. Until fairly recently relatively few complex hybrids have been made with members from this subgenus, however that has been changing year by year. This article focuses on three complex Paph hybrids that include the green flowered species Paphiopedilum malipoense.
The primary hybrid between P. malipoense and P. armeniacum was registered under the name P. Norito Hasegawa 20 years ago, just six years after P. malipoense had been described in 1984. The late 80’s was a time when thousands of P. armeniacum, P. micranthum, and to a lesser extent P. malipoense were
Paphiopedilum malipoense (upper) and P. Norito Hasegawa.
collected and exported out their native China to flower markets around the world. P. Norito Hasegawa in turn was one of the first Parvisepalum hybrids used to make the first complex Parvisepalum hybrids.
Back in November 2004 I met Norito Hasegawa at the Orchid Expo in Fukuoka City, Japan. He of course is the famous Paph breeder that the above mentioned primary cross was named after. Being an amicable guy, he managed to talk me into buying a couple strong sub-adult plants – the first string of new hybrids he made using P. Norito Hasegawa as a parent plant. I have grown and flowered them ever since.
The first cross is P. Norito Hasegawa x P. malipoense fma. ‘album’. The ‘alba’ form of P. malipoense isn’t exactly white, in fact it is pure light green with none of the typical burgundy markings found normally on that flower – not even the staminode has a touch of it. As might be expected the cross of this plant looks much like a pure P. malipoense flower, but it is a bit more yellow as it ages – an effect of the P. armeniacum blood. None of the light coloration of the ‘alba’ parent was preserved. While this hybrid is not remarkably different then P. Norito Hasegawa itself, it is nonetheless a lovely flower.
A flowering bulb well known to many gardeners, is the miniature daffodil Narcissus Tete-a-Tete. This lovely unassuming flower of late winter and early spring is a welcome sight soon after winter’s cold has passed. It is an intriguing plant in many regards, not the least of which is its somewhat uncertain origin.
Narcissus Tete-a-Tete (or more aptly N. ‘Tête à Tête’) is truly a miniature daffodil, standing 20-30 cm tall at most. Growth usually starts in March, soon after the worst of winter is over. By the middle of March and into early April the flowers open, some singly, but often in pairs (hence its name, meaning a conversation between two people). Occasionally three or even four flowers will be borne per stalk. They are presented just above the leaves and resist toppling over, even in high winds – two excellent attributes for a daffodil.
Narcissus Tete-a-Tete has typical tunicate bulbs, but is truly dwarf in habit, standing no more than 30 cm high.
Each flower is small and dainty, no more than 3-4 cm across. The corona is long relative to the out-most ring of tepals, thus qualifying it as a trumpet type daffodil. It is bright orange. The tepals (sepals + petals) are a brilliant lemon yellow. While these tend to lay in a more of less flat ring, some can recurve backward a bit, revealing one of its parent plants, N. cyclamineus. N. Tete-a-Tete flowers are long lasting and make good subjects for cut arrangements.
N. Tete-a-tete has typical tunicate bulbs, much like other daffodil bulbs, but they are bit smaller than most. They grow many offsets and plants form large clumps in a short time. These can be left intact and they will continue flowering well for many years.
N. Tete-a-Tete is a known allotriploid hybrid – that is a complicated way of saying it has at least two ancestral parents and an extra set of chromosomes compared to most other similar plants. Without a doubt the seed parent was the primary hybrid between N. cyclamineus and N. tazetta ‘Grand Soleil d’Or’, called N. ‘Cyclataz’, an heirloom daffodil variety. What is somewhat unknown is the pollen parent – it either was a crossing with another N. ‘Cyclataz’ or back onto N. cyclamineus. Based on genetic studies, it is well established that both parent species’ chromosomes are present, but since the seed set was spontaneous, we’ll never know the other parent for sure.
The flowers of Narcissus Tete-a-Tete are bi-colored and often borne in pairs.
Since it does not easily fall within the 11 divisions of other daffodil types, it is classified as division 12, miscellaneous hybrids. It is perhaps the best known of all miniature daffodil hybrids, and very popular in the bulb trade.
Naming and genetics aside, this is one fantastic miniature daffodil. There is nothing negative I can say about it. It tends to flower a bit earlier than most other daffodils, just as most spring crocus are fading. The flowers are generously produced, even on clumps that haven’t been divided for years. They open just above the tops of the leaves, never buried within them.
My plants have grown for years now with little to no help from me. All I do is clean up their bed in the spring of fallen leaves and weeds. I do not fertilize them. They are in a fair amount of sun, up to 5 hours a day while in growth. By mid summer, after they have gone dormant, their bed is shaded by brugmansia bushes that grow back after being burned to the ground during winter. This doesn’t seem to bother them (or other flowering bulbs in this area). Like other daffodils, it will endure light shade while in growth, but prefers at least some sunshine.
Narcissus Tete-a-Tete flowers are as miniature as the plant, no more than 3-4 cm across.
N. Tete-a-Tete seems quite adaptable to most soils, accepting a pH range from somewhat acidic to a bit sweet. I grow them in Kyushu’s native volcanic loam with no amendments and they seem to thrive. They are said to grow well in heavy soils provided they don’t become water logged.
Given their dwarf habit, they make great container plants as well. They are easy to force flower, up to a month or more before the normal flowering period. If you do force them, don’t be surprised if they sulk for a couple seasons after. Continue reading “A favorite miniature daffodil, Narcissus Tete-a-Tete”
A larger cousin to the red spider lily is Lycoris aurea, the golden spider lily. It is bigger in all respects – the flowers, leaves, and bulbs are half again as large as L. radiata. It’s broad trusses of golden orange blossoms always remind me of deciduous azaleas. Their appearance in the fall months is a welcome spot of color at a time when many plants are preparing to go dormant.
In fall, from a fairly large, amaryllis-like bulb growing just below the surface of the ground, fleshy flower stalks sprout. By mid to late October it is in full flower with up to 8 spidery, orange yellow blooms. The tepals are all the same length, have undulating margins, and curve backwards. The stamens and pistol project in a upward curving arc in the opposite direction from tepals, but are usually the same length.
The flower of Lycoris aurea is the largest of the genus.
The flowers of L. aurea are held in a circular truss that looks much like a deciduous azalea when seen from above. Each truss can be up to 20 cm across with any given flower about half that size.
After the flowers fade, several somewhat fleshy broad leaves sprout from the bulb. These are finished growing by mid November and are up to 70+ cm long each. They persist through the winter months, finally going dormant in mid spring. The above ground plant remains fully dormant throughout the summer months, until it flowers in October in a leafless state – hence another common name for these plants, surprise lilies.
There is some confusion concerning the naming of this plant and the closely related Lycoris traubii. Sources commonly report L. aurea being a plant of south China, but also having a range extending into parts of Indochina, Taiwan, and southern Japan. L. traubii is considered only native to Taiwan and Japan and for all practical purposes is very difficult to tell apart from L. aurea. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment does not even list L. aurea as a species native to Japan, but does list L. traubii (Kagoshima and Kochi Prefectures, reported extinct in the latter).
Not all Lycoris aurea are able to set seed, but one of my plants does so every year. Supposedly only plants with a chromosome count of 14 are fertile.
L. aurea has been given at least one varietal name, v. angustitepala, restricted to south-central China. Within the species concept of L. aurea all plants seem to be diploid (2n), yet the chromosome count varies between plants with 12, 13, 14, and 16 being commonly cited. It is said that only plants with 2n=14 are fertile. Moreover, it has been suggested that L. traubii may in fact be a local variant of the more widespread L. aurea. Japanese plants of L. traubii are said to be fertile.
Many Lycoris plants have similar and confusing histories. L. aurea has been cultivated for many centuries and it is likely that at least part of the confusion is the result of human tinkering. Plants sold as L. aurea can be of hybrid origin as well, so telling what is what can be confusing. Continue reading “Lycoris aurea, the golden spider lily”
The mountains of western Thailand and Myanmar are home to a long described, yet rare species of cane orchid, Thunia bensoniae. This genus, totally confided to southeast Asia, has only 6 known species and a handful of hybrids. These orchids have a bamboo-like look about them, and are deciduous in the winter months. T. bensoniae is one of the more showy species, sporting large Cattleya-like purple/pink flowers.
The flower of Thunia bensoniae is quite lovely and large, yet rarely does it present itself in a front facing position such as this staked plant.
In late winter or early spring new growths sprout from the base of completely leafless, sheath covered canes. These canes are dark brown and life-less looking. Their base is slightly bulbous and by winter’s end the previous season’s roots are all dead. The curious new growths start as bunches of short leafy bracts and are a light blue green color. As the season progresses, they expand to form an elongated cane-shaped growth with 10 or more lanceolate, yet broad leaves, soft to the touch. The newly formed cane within remains relatively soft as well until full maturity in the fall at which point it hardens off, becoming tough and fibrous.
At the end of their growing cycle buds form at the terminus of the cane. Each cane can sport up to 5 large flowers. The flowers are very showy, yet hang every which way, especially downward. The word “floppy” comes to mind. Not surprisingly, they are best viewed from below. They give off what might be termed an acrid odor – thankfully it is not very strong.
Each flower has the classic orchid blossom shape, as in the genus Cattleya, and is purple/pink. The lip is tubular, with a broad trumpet shape and is lightly frilled with many striations on its inner surface. The inner surface is also covered in yellow-orange tufts and ridges (lamellae) – an aid to ensure pollination. The remaining flower segments are very similar in shape and length and usually are a much paler color than the lip itself, but can be edged in dark purple/pink. In nature they are said to flower in early summer, however, at my house they start growth later than in their native homes and so don’t flower until mid summer.
By late fall the leaves begin to die back. This is not necessarily a function of colder weather, but rather is a natural cycle of their growth. By Christmas time they are fully deciduous and remain dormant for 3 or more months.
Japan’s southern and coastal regions are home to the northernmost occurring examples of Asia’s laurel forests. Here the climax forest community is dominated by trees in the laurel family (Lauraceae), evergreen members of the beech family (Fagaceae), as well as the tea family (Theaceae). Neolitsea sericea is a common laurel tree found in these temperate evergreen forests. It is a remarkable tree in many respects, especially its foliage, as you will see.
Neolitsea sericea flowers in the autumn just before the cold weather hits.
Neolitsea sericea is a moderate sized broad leaf evergreen tree, attaining a maximum height of 10-15 meters. Unimpeded, it forms a rounded crown, but rarely is it seen outside a forest setting in Japan where it must compete for light and therefore usually has a more ranging form. Trunks usually don’t exceed 60 cm in diameter and the relatively smooth bark is brown.
Its mature leaves are lanceolate and oblong, 8-18 cm in length, and dark green with 3 prominent lighter green veins along their length. When young they form in a whorl and hang down almost vertically. At this stage they are covered in an extremely shiny, soft velvet like hair that in truth is a muddy yellow green, but gives the impression of brilliant silver in the spring sun. To the touch they are soft, like velvet or silk.
Within a few weeks these hairs shorten to a light pubescence as the leaves mature and take on an extraordinary dark pink to reddish purple coloration throughout. The prominent veins of the leaves are almost white at this stage in development and the leaves are more staggered along the newly forming twig in an alternating pattern. By early summer they mature, losing the pink color and all pubescence. What is left is a stiff, glaucous mature leaf. The underside of the mature leaf is a nearly white/green, hence its Japanese name shirodamo, meaning “white ash” – a reference also to the Japanese ash tree, Fraxinus mandshurica v. japonica.
In mid fall, just before colder temperatures hit, buds along the newly formed leaf axes open into masses of yellow green flowers. These form into berries over the winter months, remaining green throughout the following growing season only to turn deep crimson the following fall. They are very conspicuous and remain on the tree most of the following winter. N. sericea is dioecious, with male and female trees. Since only the females bear fruit, that must be considered if you want to have fruiting trees.
Only three species of Paphiopedilum within the subgenus Parvisepalum boast pink flowers – P. delenatii, P. micranthum, and P. vietnamense. P. delenatii has been has been used to make a wide number of primary hybrids with other Paphiopedilum species, and are the focus of this article. All the plants mentioned here I have grown and flowered at my home in southern Japan.
Paphiopedilum delenatii – one of the parent plants of all the mentioned hybrids in this article.
Most species within this subgenus live in northern Vietnam and adjacent areas of China. The exceptions are P. vietnamense which is found in a very small area in the northern mountains of Vietnam, and P. armeniacum, confined to a small area of Yunnan near the Myanmar border. By contrast, P. delenatti is found only along the southern coastline of Vietnam. The upshot is that all in the group can endure colder temperatures in winter, while P. delenatti is a truly tropical plant.
The earlier primary hybrids with P. delenatii were made from the progeny of one famous plant grown by Marcel Lecoufle. In the last 20 years, with the rediscovery of this species in southern Vietnam, its hybrids have become more diverse and available.
One interesting feature of many its hybrids is the tendency of nearly all white flowers resulting, a sort of “bleaching out” of the purple, yellow, and green pigments. A good example of this is P. Armeni White where the yellow pigment of P. armeniacum are virtually lost. The yellow on the staminode of P. delenatii appears on its hybrids as well.
Without further adieu, here are the P. delenatii primary hybrids I’ve grown over the past 7 or so years.
First off is P. Ho Chi Minh (Popow, 2002), a hybrid made with the closely related species, P. vietnamense. The flower is quite large, up to 10 or more centimeters across. My plant opens relatively flat, but then gets more cupped within the first couple days. While many people complain this hybrid’s flower lasts a very short time (some report a week or less), my plant keeps it’s blooms for three weeks on average. It is a annual bloomer for me, but increases its number of growths slowly.
Paphiopedilum Ho Chi Minh (delenatii x vietnamense)
The next three hybrids all show the above mentioned “bleaching effect”. The first is one of my all time favorite Paph hybrids, P. Armeni White (Kubo, 1987), a cross with the pure yellow flowered P. armeniacum. The flower initially is somewhat cupped and creamy yellow, but within a few days bleaches nearly pure white, except the staminode which is yellow and marked with brick red. As the flower matures it also tends to open more and the petals and dorsal sepal become more wavy. Continue reading “Four Paphiopedilum hybrids – P. delenatii primaries”
Southern Japan year round is a place of flowers and no plant exemplifies that more than Narcissus tazetta, Japan’s answer to a paper white daffodil. This plant can be found in various stages of bloom anytime from late December through February along the roadsides and fields of southern Japan, precisely during the coldest weather. It is member of the tazetta daffodils – those species and hybrid daffodil that have clustered, cup shaped flowers, and flower during the winter months into early spring. N. tazetta is close relative to the most famous member of the group, Narcissus papyraceus, the common paper white.
The cheerful flowers of Narcissus tazetta v. orientalis grace the roadsides and fields of southern Japan during the height of winter.
In late autumn the new leaves emerge, forming large clumps, sometimes almost carpeting the ground. They look like most other daffodil leaves, long and thin, and blue-green in color. Each can be up to 60 cm tall when full grown, but most clumps don’t exceed 40 cm or so. Perhaps more than other types, tazetta daffodils form large clumps, in fact it is nearly impossible to find a plant that isn’t in a clump. If you lift a group of N. tazetta you’ll find its bulbs clustered in masses. They are typical tunicate bulbs, as with all members of this genus. Each bulb supports anywhere from 2-5 leaves, and usually one flower stalk. These grow throughout the winter into early spring when the plant goes fully dormant.
The flowers are born in clusters on long stems that match or exceed the highest leaves. Each cluster has from 1-7 cup shaped flowers. The typical flower color is white and orange yellow, but very pale colored forms exist as well as pure yellow flowers. The six outer petal-like segments (called the perianth) are usually pure white and slightly reflexed backward. The inner cup like structure (called the corona) is orange-yellow in color.
The flower gets its name, tazetta, from the Italian word tazza, which is a shallow wine cup – a reference to the bowl shaped orange corona of the flower’s center.
It is the corona that gives this plant the species epithet, tazetta, from the Italian word tazza, which is a shallow wine cup on a pedestal-like base. The flowers last 2 or more weeks long and tend to open at one time. Their odor is intense, but not unpleasant, and much more floral scented than the musty smell of N. papyraceus. They are frost resistant to several degrees.
In Japan N. tazetta can be found in the warmer regions of Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku, but is not native. It is thought that it came from China centuries ago, represented by the variety orientalis (AKA v. chinensis), but very likely was brought to that country in the distant past from the Near East along trading routes. In Japan it is found on roadsides, on rice patty embankments, along rivers, and in vacant lots in both agricultural and urban environments. A number of different flower forms and hybrids are frequent garden plants in Japan and elsewhere. The commonly grown N. tazetta ssp. italicus is in fact the hybrid between N. tazetta and N. papyraceus, the paperwhite narcissus, and is an import from Italy. Unlike its parents, it is a sterile mule, and so can only be increased through division. Continue reading “Narcissus tazetta, Japan’s paperwhite”
Perhaps no other group of terrestrial orchid is as popular as the lady slipper orchids, genus Cypripedium. As I said in my articles about Cypripedium cultivation, relatively few species are in mass production, so many on the market today are wild sourced plants. While some condemn this practice, I am not here to do so, I only want to address the issue of how to recognize a healthy plant to insure success for the buyer. Necessarily, many wild collected Cyps are not in good health due to rough treatment during collection, poor storage before going to market, and the process and time involved in transporting them to their new homes.
We all want to have healthy Cyps in our gardens such as this lovely Cypripedium tibeticum in Darcy Gunnlaugson’s garden in Canada. To have such a plant though it needs to have healthy root stock.
Moreover, it should be noted that while the mortality rate of wild collected material is often high, plants can be stabilized over time in culture and in time look like nursery propagated stock. Since the purpose of this article is to recognize the indications of health of a Cypripedium, that will be my main focus.
The characteristics of an unhealthy plant indeed are often due to the collecting process, so it is important to know what those characteristics are, and if at all possible, avoid purchasing such stock. Of course not all collected material is in poor health, however the lion’s share is in my experience.
Furthermore, this article is about mature plants, not seedlings. Usually seedlings are sold soon after being removed from their propagating jars (commonly called deflasked seedlings) and are very small. Once you have seen deflasked Cypripedium seedlings it is impossible to mistake wild collected material with them. Still, some vendors market very small collected plants as “seedlings” – a questionable practice since such plants have an even higher mortality rate than adults.
Without further ado, here are things to look for when assessing a Cyp’s health:
The roots of a healthy Cypripedium are light in color, not broken or cut, and the root tips are intact. These roots exemplify all those attributes.
1. The roots should be clean looking, white to cream colored, with little or no black on them, particularly the root tips. Some species can have brown roots due to heavy organics in the compost staining them, but most will not have this. Recently collected plants will rarely have light colored roots, even if they are undamaged, but rather moderately dark to dark brown roots. Unhealthy plants will have black roots and many will be dead or dying, the result of invading organisms – fungi and bacteria. Another problem are clean looking roots that break off easily from the rhizome during handling. While it is normal for a few roots to come off during transit and planting, most should be firmly in place. Continue reading “Lady slipper orchids, genus Cypripedium – what to look for when buying them”
