Cymbidium sinense 'Golden Da Mao' 墨兰 ‘达摩中透’
 

My first Asian Cymbidium from Mystery Garden Store on Etsy. This plant came in phenomenal condition, no bad roots, no wilting leaves and it had been in the box almost 2 days because I was out of town this weekend and didn't arrive until last night.

Beautiful variegation that reminds me of the more expensive shima 縞 (stripe) Neofinetia/Vanda falcata varieties. The flower I believe is a red one, but I'll have to wait for spring to confirm.

Given I'm in North Texas, this guy has to grow indoors at the edge of the light from the grow lights from my cabinet. They don't handle the extremes of the temperate environment here.

For the Mandarin name, the best I can find for `墨兰` is "ink orchid."
I think `兰` refers to Cymbidiums, as you see it in all the Asian Cymbidum species online. That or it just refers to orchids.

`达摩中透` is something like "Dharma Path/Medium", but `中透` is like "penetrate" or "seep through" and `达摩`is "Dharma" or the concept of virtue, moral order or duties in Buddhism/Hinduism/Jainism/Sihkism. So the variety name probably refers to the yellow variegation of the leaves "seeping through" or making a path through the green. I can't find what "Da Mao" is though, although for all I know that refers to Dharma.

Andrew at Mystery Garden Store might actually know better than just me searching the internet and using DeepL to translate, though. :lol:

Can't wait to see this guy flower!

EDIT: Funny enough, whenver you put the character `墨` in DeepL, you get the translation:

"corporal punishment consisting of tattooing characters on the victim's forehead"

But the alternatives are just

"ink stick."

Also the character `中` apparently refers to "medium" or "middle", so it's entirely possible the variety name is "golden medium/middle/path" which makes a lot more sense.

The box with slash character is also the name for China, the Middle Kingdom. The Dao or Tao is the balanced path through life, staying in the middle rather than veering to extremes.

Cymbidium sinense Da Mo Zhong Tou 达摩中透

Da Mo - buddhist monk also known as Daruma in Japan. Most often they would name dwarf or compact varieties Damo or Daruma after the Daruma doll

Zhong Tou describes the variegation which roughly translates to saturated middle or inner variegation

Ten Shin Gardens has a list of terms for different leaf and flower forms if you'd like to know more
Cymbidium Terms - Ten Shin Gardens Co., Ltd.

Ah I thought I something about Da Mo/Mao being a buddhist monk.

Thanks, plantxart! I've wanted to fine something like this for Asian Cymbidiums. Very much appreciated!

I’ve been eye balling these variegated Cymbidiums from Mystery Garden Store for awhile.Beautiful plant!

love that variegation!

墨兰 ‘达摩中透’

To clarify what this is, here it is:

墨兰 = Scientific name is Cymbidium sinense. In Chinese, it has 2 names,

a) 报岁兰 = New Year's Orchid because it blooms around Chinese New Year so you know how old you are.

b)墨兰 = Ink orchid.

When you see these 2 sets of Chinese names = Cymbidium sinense.

Now why is it Call 达摩? Damo?
達磨/達摩: He is a Buddhist monk, there are many statues of him with legs crossed. In Japan, there are these little red dolls called Daruma that is short and round. Because Cymbidium sinense Damo type is short and round, it looks like the Japanese Daruma doll. (you have to use your imagination).

中透= this just means centre stripe variegation. Green on the edge of the leaves and the centre of the leaves are not green (white, cream, or yellow). There are Neofinetia falcata with the same types of variegation. In Japanese, this type of variegation is called Naka suke. One example is Neofinetia falcata "Akebono".

There is no mystery about this, very straight translation.
I hope this helps.

I'm finding there's a lot of names for varieties in Asia that you have to use your imagination for. :lol:

For instance I've seen quite a few Japanese variety plants that are named after sumo terms, but not even ones that are, say, the ranks of sumo. I did find one or two that were named after sumo wrestlers, though.

Of course I guess you start running out of names to describe the colors and shapes of the plants leaves and flowers after awhile that you have to come up with something different.

Thank you, it helps a lot! If I made it seem like a mystery it's because, well, I can't read Mandarin. :lol: