Snowy day cure? New Neofinetia!

[Pattywack]

Yesterday began with a couple of inches of snow, again. After storm Stella had melted away on Saturday, I was a bit bummed. I called my daughter and asked if she would be interested in a trip to Al's Orchids, knowing she would be. Nothing better on a cold, snowy day than a nice friendly greenhouse.

Al didn't have his sale table of Neofinetia any longer so what are you going to do? Buy em anyway! I brought home two gorgeous Neofinetia, a Rasha chabo nishiki and a nice big Yodonomatsu.

I've not found much information on the Rasha chabo nishiki anyone grow this little beauty? They are both nice healthy plants. Snows all gone now too! First picture is Rasha chabo nishiki, second is Yodonomatsu.

[jkofferdahl]

That's a really great looking plant! Neos sure are calling my name lately...

[Pattywack]

Thank you jkofferdahl, they are both nice! The Yodonomatsu is so big, I couldn't resist. I'm wondering about the Rasha chabo nishiki though. I've been all over the internet and I've found next to nothing about this plant. It originally came from Seed Engei. It's a cutie for sure and has a spike emerging I believe. There are just so many to choose from.

Sounds like you need to buy a Neofinetia!

[estación seca]

I'm starting to think you need to get at least one of each and every different kind.

[Pattywack]

Estacion seca your funny! I wanted a small collection and just thought a nice one of each leaf verity would be great. I'm getting there, lol and I'm running out of space.

This particular new one has me stumped. I usually know what I'm looking for when shopping for plants, even Neos. The yodonomatsu I've seen before and read a lot about it. This Rasha chabo nishiki is a new one to me, never seen anything posted about it and none of the vendors have it.

After looking more today, I understand "Rasha" refers to rough texture of the leaves which this plant does not have. The nishiki is used in many Neofinetia names, variegated leaves which this plant does not have either. I think I'm going to contact Al and see what he may suggest. This plant was originally from Seed Engei, it was acquired by Al in 2011.

It could have been mislabeled at some point.

[estación seca]

So, you Neo nuts... would you buy something, unseen, with a name you don't already own? What if it were a really really flowery, poetic name?

[MattWoelfsen]

Rasha Chabo Nishiki 羅紗矮鶏錦 is a poorly documented Neofinetia plant. I have not seen any other description other than what I understand the Romanji stands for--which is a little risky for non-Japanese to translate. I'll try anyway. Hopefully friends like "Hakumin" will see this thread and opine! Here goes my version: Rasha and Nishiki are two Romanji words that describe texture. When these two words come together, they give the understanding that the plant is a rough textured plant. Nishiki is often used to describe texture, not variegation. The word "chabo" is in English "chicken". But I think in this case, chabo describes how the leaves are upright, like the tail feathers of a rooster. Roosters are highly venerated animals in Asia. In fact, this is the Year of the Rooster. Back to this plant. Rasha Chabo Nishiki is a rough textured upright leafed Furan. That is my take but I defer to anyone to correct my understanding of this plant.

Yodo-No-Matsu 淀の松 is a bean leaf plant. It is very similar to Tomakongou but the difference is their provenance. Tomakongou is from a morph of Amami Island Furan and is considered one of the first bean leafs so identified. Yodonomatsu is another bean leaf from another location in Japan, I think it comes from Kyoto. Again, this could be incorrect. Yodonomatsu can grow larger than Tomakongou but my plant is smaller than my Tomakongou. However Yodo does clump up to appear like a multi-branched pine tree. Hence its name.

[Hakumin]

Originally Posted by MattWoelfsen

Hopefully friends like "Hakumin" will see this thread and opine!

Sorry, I have found zero information about Rasha-Chabo-Nishiki.

I can say though that the name seems to carry a description as you were guessing. Rasha implies a texture to the leaves. That one seems to be clear with no issues in regards to this plant.

Chabo implies the shape of the plant. However, Chabo doesn't mean that the leaves are upright, but it rather means that the leaves are short, but not to the extent of a Bean leaf variety. "chabo" plants can have upright or curved leaves.

In Japanese horticulture, in many varieties of plants with shorter leaves will be described as Chabo. Literally, the translation of Chabo isn't "chicken" per se, but rather a specific breed of chicken, the Japanese bantam. The name isn't used to compare the shape of the plant to a chicken or its plumes, but rather it is comparing the size of the plant to a bantam. In the same way a true Bantam chicken breed is smaller than a standard breed, a Chabo plant variety, is smaller than a standard variety.

Nishiki, does in fact most often imply variegation. As far as I have seen, it has never been used to describe texture of a leaf, but in some cases it implies anthocyanin pigmentation or a particularly vibrantly colored flower. In all cases though, the implication is a unique pattern or color. I have no clue why it might have been applied to this variety name though.

Questions about this variety are probably going to be best answered by Seed Engei. The name does not bring up any meaningful results on google in Japanese or Korean, and the 15 or so books on Neos I have don't mention it. The only online result is an old Seed Engei price list.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by estación seca

So, you Neo nuts... would you buy something, unseen, with a name you don't already own? What if it were a really really flowery, poetic name?

Acquiring Neofinetia without knowing what the name means is often the case for non-Japanese/Korean/Chinese Furan collectors like me. My friend "Hakumin" always shakes his head in disbelief when I post my latest acquisition without knowing what the varietal name is of the particular Neofinetia acquired.

But I do know in general terms how to take care of this plant and can adjust cultural conditions to grow it successfully. It is after all only one kind of orchid in the Vanda Alliance.

Contrast that with trying to grow Dendrobium, or Bulbophylum. There are so many different cultures for these orchids that I struggle to figure how to grow them. Masdevallia--some require cold, others require heat. You have to do a lot of research just to figure out how to water any of these plants.

Not so with Neofinetia.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I'm starting to think you need to get at least one of each and every different kind.

Absolutely! But you need deep pockets.