Cymbidium goeringii (Spring Orchid, Chun Lan) is the most revered Chinese cymbidium with only one bloom per stalk in spring. The fragrance is quite fabulous but the flowers do not come in large quantities so the overall effect is subtle. There are hundreds of cultivars, with the ultra-dwarf (4-6" tall) and ultra-wide petaled (Lotus petaled) cultivars being the most sought after (A division of 2-3 shoots can cost several thousand dollars in Hong Kong and Mainland)!!!
Cymbidium faberi (Hui Lan) blooms in the same season with similar growth habits as Cym. goeringii. This one has many flowers per stalk but with much less fragrance. It is considered inferior to Cym. goeringii but still has quite a number of cultivars. It is very rare in the U.S.
Cymbidium ensifolium (Jian Lan) is a summer-fall blooming orchid with excellent fragrance from multiple flowers on multiple stalks in healthy specimens. This is the first one to try if you are into Chinese cymbidiums. Cym. Golden Elf is an offspring of this species. Tie Gu Su Xin(meaning Iron Bone Plain flower) is a famous cultivar. It is also found from southern India and Sri Lanka to Indochina, Mlalaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines to Papua New Guinea. It has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years in Japan and China. The flowers are more sporadic in warmer temperatures. In the Philippines, there is even a variety known as Cymbidium ensifolium var. misericors.
Cymbidium sinense (Mo Lan ) is very popular in Taiwan. It has wider leaves than Cym. goeringii, with some varieties selected for their variegated foliage only. It prefers warmer temperature and has many flowers per stalk blooming around Chinese New Year. Because of their blooming time, they are also called Bao Sui Lan (Heralding New Year Orchid). Their fragrance is mild and sweet, not as exotic or strong as the other Chinese Cymbidiums. A robust species, it has been in cultivation in China and Japan for several centuries.
There are a number of other miniature Cymbidium species in China and Vietnam. Some are fragrant such as Cym. kanran, some are not, like Cym. dayanum-however is attractive and rewarding if cultivated, it occurs also in the Philippines; it prefers a cool climate and found often in rotting stumps and logs. Cym. eburneum, together with Cym. lowianum are the parents of the first artificial Cymbidium hybrid.
The main knock on Chinese cymbidiums is that they are too plain: The flowers are either white or green (There are some red flowered Cym. goeringii in Japan but they are not fragrant), small in size, the foliage is like a small clump of evergreen grass, the bloom season is short, and the culture is quite tricky (needs the right mychorrizae for the roots).
In China, except for those fancy cultivars they are treated like annuals, where wild dug species were sold in the cities before their blooming season every year. If you can not find any of these Chinese Cymbidiums, Aglaia odorata and Chloranthus spicatus are very good imitations fragrance-wise.
In China, orchids are commonly known as ‘LAN'. The word 'lan' was used in several Chinese classics such as 'Shih Ching' (The Book of Songs, published at about 1000-600BC, or 2500-3000 years ago) and 'Li Chi' (The Book of Rites, published during the Western Han Dynasty, 202BC-9AD). Orchids are also termed 'ni' and 'chien’ in these classics (Chen and Tang, 1982), where 'ni' refers to ribbon grass (Spiranthes sinensis Pers. Orchidaceae). It is still uncertain whether chien and lan are true orchids. In many ancient writings, lan is used as a loose reference to fragrant plants rather than an exclusive reference to orchids (Chen and Tang, 1982). This has resulted in much confusion regarding the exact dates for orchid cultivation in China. Confucius (551-479BC), for example, once said, ''Che lan that grows in deep forests never withholds its fragrance even when it is not being appreciated'' and that ''lan is the king of fragrant plants'' Some writers have contended that 'chilan', mentioned by Confucius, is a true orchid, or Cymbidium. This is because the habitat of chi lan as described by Confucius is similar to that of wild cymbidiums. This view is not shared by most Chinese orchidologists.
The earliest record of Chinese orchids is in the 'Shen Nung Pen Tsao Ching'(Divine Husbandman's Classic of Materia Medica), published during the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD). Several orchids are mentioned, namely 'shihhu' (Dendrobium spp.), 'chih chien' (Gastrodia elata) and 'paichi' (Bletillaspp.)
The earliest paper giving details of orchid cultivation in China is Jin Zhang Lan Pu (Treatise of Orchids of Jin Zhang) which appeared during the Southern Sung dynasty (960-1124AD) (Wu, 1981). This was written by Zhang Shi Geng and published in 1233. It consists of five sections covering orchid quality, types, love, care and watering. Lan was divided into two groups —the'zhilan' (violet lan; 16species) and 'bailan' (whitelan; 19 species). The zhilan includes Cymbidium sinense and the bailan includes C. ensifolium var. Susin Yen of today (Wu, 1981). About 10 years later, another paper was published on the cultivation of Chinese orchids, 'Wang Shi Lan Pu' (Wang’s Treatise on Orchids), which was written by Wang Kuei Hsue hin 1247. It was an improved version of the earlier paper, Jin Zhang Lan Pu, and it described the types and ranking of lan, the technique of watering and division, and the use of soil or soil mixtures as potting media. There was a third record of orchid cultivation in the Sung Dynasty, entitled 'Lan Pu Ao Fa' (Treatise on the Technique of Orchid Culture). The authorship of this paper remains unclear, although Chinese orchidologists like to believe that it was written by Zhang Shi Geng or Wang Kuei Hsueh. This paper described in greater detail the methods of propagation by division, irrigation, fertilization, and pest control. Although orchid cultivation was common during the Sung dynasty, it became very popular during the Ming (1368-1644AD) and Ching (1644-1911AD ).
