Three Spurred Neofinetia Flowers
 

At last! I own a Manjushage. An entire year of waiting and watching and being outbid! Its mine!

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/...279121d6_b.jpg
Manjushage 曼珠沙華 by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

:biggrin:

This has triple spurs? Is that what makes it Manjushage 曼珠沙華? I'm still learning about all the different characteristics of these noble orchids.

Yes, Hiester. Having a three-spur flower verified as a three spur makes it a Manjushage. The irony is this plant may not produce three spurs the next time it blooms. Or it may throw a spike that has a mix of one, two, or three. This feature cannot be bred to be 3-spurred. And that makes each plant unique and highly valued. And worth the wait!

Hmm... interesting. So just taking a wild stab at the logic behind this phenomenon, it sounds as if it might be a group of genetically differentiated chimeric cells which are the cause. Assuming this is the case, then this same mechanism can sometimes be the cause of varying degrees of variegation in plant leaves, as well as oddly differentiated colors in blooms of some examples.

I imagine wringing hands and a maniacal "mwahahaha".

Either that or the plant knows how much Matt bid for the plant & is just doing him a solid :D

Nice snag Matt! Can't wait to see those flowers.

Isn't it annoying when others there keep bidding on YOUR orchid? I know this feeling!

I also think some in question there are dealers. They seem only to bid on orchids, lots of them.

eBay rocks.

Congrats Matt!!!

Anyone that grows Neos should have at least one of these in there collection.

While Manjushage plants are often simply defined as just having three spurs, there are a few other qualifiers too.

I know of at least 5 (possibly 6) plants that create flowers with three spurs.

All images were found through google and are not mine.

Manjushage is the most common. The flowers generally face forward or to the side (as opposed to upwards). Flowers are usually white with maybe the slightest tinge of pink or green. The two additional spurs emerge from the two top inner tepals.

http://www.seedengei.jp/img/manjushage.jpg



Benikanzashi and Hanakanzashi. These might be the same plant, but I'm not sure. I've seen references to both, but I can't tell them apart. These have three spurs on flowers that have the same color as Shutenno flowers. The two additional spurs emerge from the bottom two lateral outer tepals.

http://www.geocities.jp/falcata_fuji...anakanzasi.jpg



Hanamatoi has three spurs on green or white buds that never or rarely fully open. The extra spurs come from the two inner tepals.

http://www.geocities.jp/falcata_fuji...-hanamatoi.jpg



Kintaikan has flowers that have three spurs, with the extra ones coming from the top inner tepals, but those extra spurs are shorter than the main spur. I'm not sure if these flowers open fully or stay closed like the Hanamatoi.

http://www.geocities.jp/falcata_fuji...kan-tubomi.jpg



Tamakouro (or perhaps gyokukouro?) has three spurs but the flowers face upward and the tepals are generally a bit shorter than the Manjushage. The spurs appear from the two upper inner tepals (lip=bottom). (I'm in the process of searching for this for my own collection...)

http://cfile239.uf.daum.net/image/14...4E101BD02AA2C2

Awesome! Thanks for posting the info.

Sent from my Nexus 10