Chinese cymbidium-Can't read the name.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Hi, I got a BUNCH of Cymbidiums yesterday from a friend at the SEPOS, unfortunately only the only names on them are in Chinese or Japanese or some asian characters. Can anyone give me some help? Here is the name.. Thanks!


DSC_0425.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr

[s.kallima]

I am pretty sure (please correct me if wrong) the first two characters mean Shunran which is the Cymbidium goeringii (I have 3 of those with same ideograms)
Can't help with the rest, sorry

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------

Just thinking, you should email Matt at Ten Shin Gardens I am sure he could tell you (this looks like his labels anyway!)

[Call_Me_Bob]

Thanks!!!!! That's all I needed really! i have a list of what they possibly are, and one of the possibilities is Cym. goeringii 'Ai Li Shan' So that's what it is! Thanks!!!


I have 11 of these beautiful plants, all are blooming size, if anyone is interested, send me a PM! I'm willing to sell them.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The first character means spring, (Chuen).

The second character means orchid, (Lan).

So if what they're calling Cym georingii is "Spring Orchid", then that would be it.

The other two characters I may not recognize right off the bat, but it is definitely not 'Ai Li Shan'.

Ai Li Shan or Ali Shan is a mountain range in Taiwan. The character for mountain, (Shan), is not in the name. Not to mention Ai Li Shan would contain 3 Chinese characters in addition to the first 2 characters in the name - for a total of 5 Chinese characters, if it really was Ai Li Shan, not 4.

The Chinese character for mountain, (Shan), is actually very easy to recognize - it looks like the prongs of a three-pronged pitchfork/trident. The modern way that the mountain character is written is a stylized form of writing this character. In ancient Chinese script, the character for mountain more closely resembles three mountain peaks.

The last character is giving me a difficult time. I know I've seen it before and have learned what it means, but I just don't remember what it is.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I don't recognize the first character, but I do recognize the second character.

The second character means orchid, (Lan).

The other two characters I may not recognize right off the bat, but it is definitely not 'Ai Li Shan'.

Ai Li Shan or Ali Shan is a mountain range in Taiwan. The character for mountain is not in the name. Not to mention Ai Li Shan would contain 3 Chinese characters in addition to the first 2 characters in the name.

The Chinese character for mountain, (Shan), is actually very easy to recognize - it looks like the prongs of a three-pronged pitchfork. The way the mountain character is written is a stylized form of writing this character. In ancient Chinese script, the character for mountain more closely resembles three mountain peaks.

I see.. Well I got these along with lots of other plants, but these were the only Cymbidiums. The tags were all literally just thrown in the box (don't ask me why). But the Cymbidiums all have a piece of paper taped on one of their leaves. The pieces of paper I believe are all identical, and look just like the one I posted a photo of. So after I saw the reply from S.Kallima, I looked at the bag of tags and grabbed the first goeringii there was. But looking closer, there are tags for a bunch of different goeringii.. So it's possible that these are any of the following...


'Ai Li Shan'
'Lien Ban'
var. alba
'ong Song Mei'
'Fu Cui Jin Long'
'Shi Gang Shui'

Hopefully we can narrow it down! Thanks!

[s.kallima]

Lien Ban alba should be the same as Lian Ban, an almost white form of goeringii

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It is most likely 'Lien Ban', as s.kallima had said.

[s.kallima]

ong Song Mei' could be like this one
Cymbidium Goeringii Song Mei

---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------

'Fu Cui Jin Long' seems to be a Cym. sinensis form
Cymbidium sinense 'Fu Gui Jin Long'

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It definitely is not 'Song Mei'. The seller posted the Chinese characters on the posting. It doesn't match what Bob has.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

Lien Ban alba should be the same as Lian Ban, an almost white form of goeringii

Can you tell that from the characters?

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

It is most likely 'Lien Ban', as s.kallima had said.

So would you call it LiAn Ban then? Instead of LiEn Ban? And how sure are we that that's correct? Sure enough to label?

Originally Posted by s.kallima

ong Song Mei' could be like this one
Cymbidium Goeringii Song Mei

That's a typo..the tag says 'Hong Song Mei' Sorry for the confusion... And for the characters on that ebay listing the first two match mine, but the second two characters are not the same. Are you saying you still think it could be 'Hong Song Mei'?