Note: This is a re-post. The entire original thread vanished inexplicably while I was typing a response to Hakumin's very thorough reply to the original post. Hakumin's reply is included at the end of the OP, below.
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I've got a few of these Mystery Neos. I thought I'd share three of them on the outside chance I'll learn something new.
I'd also like to see the mystery Neos others have in their collections. Here they are in the order of increasing mystery.
#1 N. falcata Tenshou 天祥 - Online translators give the translation as
Tianxiang. Wen Tianxiang (文天祥) was a Taiwanese(?) Song Dynasty hero.
The plant pictured is large 5.75" (14.5cm) with thick, wide exceedingly dark green
himeba (gracefully arced) leaves. On my plant, the variegation is light green on a very dark green base color. The pattern is
imahaze nochikurami chirifujima, which means scattered spread stripes that darken to green as the leaf ages. It has a crescent tsuke, and green roots. There is no indication this growth has flowered previous. The seller said the origin is unknown.
An expired New World Orchids listing portrays a very different Tenshou. They say "Neofinetia falcata Tenshou has a lovely peacock orientation to the leaves, but its most interesting feature is the flowers: white with an elephant trunk-like spur sticking out of the front!" This Tenshou doesn't appear to resemble mine at all.
There are Tenshou photos at Neofinetia.com.ua which look very similar to mine.
Neofinetia falcata Tenshou 天祥
On the other hand, there are Tenshou photos at flickriver.com with no variegation showing and very thin straight leaves. This could be the same as the one at NWO.
Flickriver: Photoset 'Neofinetia Falcata' by Mdmiranda88
#2 N. falcata Houraizan 蓬莱山 - Online translators yield "Penglai", the name of a mythical mountain. The seller's description said it was formerly named Shinwa.
This is a very large Neofinetia, measuring 10" leaf tip to leaf tip as it stands, 12" if the leaves were straight. New leaves increase in length by about 1" per month, which is very fast for a Neofinetia, but the leaves are so long it stacks them up at a normal rate. It has
himeba (gracefully arched) leaves that occasional have a fine white
chirifushima (scattered)
stripe
If the stripes were to become much greater in number, this would be a spectacular Neofinetia. It has a crescent tsuike, mud stem, and green root tips. It is currently spiking, but I have not yet seen it bloom.
#3 N. falcata Okina Nishiki 翁錦 The name auto-translates as "Weng brocade", with "brocade"indicating shima stripes. "Weng" may be the Chinese district name taken as a surname by the descendants of the fourth king of the Zhou dynasty. On the other hand, "Okina" suggests (to my Western thinking) possible Okinawan origins, where my oldest son lived as a foreign exchange student.
My very thorough research found no mention of this cultivar or clues as to its desirable attributes. The seller did not provide a description and it is not registered by the Japanese or Koreans. I bought it because it I think it is possible that a well-grown N. Okina Nishiki could have a very elegant appearance with nicely stacked highly arched leaves that turn up at the tips. It could also develop My plant has no stripes.
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The following is Hakumin's excellent reply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hakumin
I’m sure you realize this at this point but translating names using automatic translators really doesn't usually give you much relevant info because Neo names are proper nouns, and the meanings don't always make sense when translated. It'd be no different than trying to put a person's name through google translate.
Also it seems that the translator that you were using was set to translate from Chinese rather than from Japanese or Korean. The results given from your translator is the transcription of how a Chinese speaker would read those characters. However, any Chinese meaning derived from the names is usually not relevant to the variety because Japanese and Korean readings and meanings of the characters don’t always correspond closely to the Chinese readings and meanings.
In any case info about the varieties:
Tenshō 天祥 - The Korean association’s profile of the variety is here. The paraphrased translation is: Large size shima variety. The variegation is a clearly developed white-yellow chiri-fu type with a scattering of dark green stripes. The variegation is clearly visible on the top 1-2 leaves, and later darkens to solid green. Although the variegation is the type that disappears as the leaves mature, the contrast of the variegation on the new leaves is good. The wide and thick leaves are slightly upright but gracefully curved. The leaf tips are somewhat rounded. Mud stem, mud root, crescent tsuke. The name literally means "Heavenly auspices"
Hōraizan 蓬莱山 - Korean association profile here. Translation: Chirifu-shima variegated variety of Amami lineage. Neat shape overall with good balance and gracefully curved leaves with sharp tips. The variegation is sharp and clear as soon as the leaves emerge. The stripes are a soft cream in color sprinkled with darker green flecks and streaks against a dark green base. When first selected (2002, Korea), it was almost solid green with nearly invisible faint streaks of variegation, but an offshoot mutation created the stable variety currently seen today. Roots coming out of the highly variegated areas tend to be ruby in color. The name (which in Korean is read Bongraesan) refers to the summertime seasonal name given to the famous Geumgang mountain on the Korean peninsula. Furthermore, a further offshoot mutation from this variety with fukurin-shima variegation is called Shinhwa 神話 (Shinwa in Japanese).
Okina-Nishiki 翁錦 - This one I have heard the name before but unfortunately there this no information coming up in my usual sources. I’m not sure where I heard the name before, but I’ll see If any further searches turns anything up. The meaning of the name in Japanese is split into two parts. Okina 翁 basically means “venerable old man.” Nishiki 錦, while it does literally mean “brocade” is a suffix used in neo names to indicate that the variety has variegation, usually of the shima type. The original meaning of "brocade" is almost always irrelevant when you see this character in a Neo name. |
No seller description, nothing found online - mystery Neos
Linear Mode
