# A few fuukiran



## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 12, 2010)

'Tis the season. 

Gojyofukurin - I've grown this plant for 6 years now - the first in my collection. It started out with just one fan of leaves.







Kinroukaku - bought this as a large plant a couple summer's ago. It has increased a bit in size since then. Yes, the leaves are naturally yellow like that!






Benisuzume - got this one back in the spring of 2005 as a small clump. It grew a lot in the meantime. Always a good bloomer.






Kinginrasha - this little beauty was bought just last year. It is a small plant so I was surprised when it threw a spike. I love the up facing flower and curlicue spur.


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## Lanmark (Jul 12, 2010)

All four are awesome! :clap: Your Kinroukaku is impressive. :drool: My own two favorites are the Benisuzume and the Kinginrasha. The fact that Kinginrasha will bloom when so small is one of the very many very endearing characteristics about this particular variety. Benisuzume has an especially sweet candy-like scent, to my nose anyway, and the heavy mask of pink contrasts beautifully with the white lip. It also grows well, clumps up nicely, and blooms heavily as we can see in your photo. Great growing and great pics too, btw!


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## Greenpaph (Jul 12, 2010)

Your da man! I love the kinginrasha!


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## Lanmark (Jul 12, 2010)

Oh I almost forgot...I must compliment you as well on the live moss you have growing at the base of your Kinginrasha plant :smitten: _c'est génial !_


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## Linh (Jul 12, 2010)

It's fun to see them get bigger and bigger every year. Very nice plants!:clap:


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## TyroneGenade (Jul 13, 2010)

That little Kinginrasha is very cute. I have a little plant with the same leaf morphology which I got from a friend in Japan (no tags supplied). I hope I am pleasantly surprised in a season or two's time.


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## NYEric (Jul 13, 2010)

Looking good.


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## TADD (Jul 13, 2010)

:drool: that is all I will say.


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## SlipperFan (Jul 13, 2010)

Kinroukaku looks a tiny bit blue. Is it? They are all :drool:


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 13, 2010)

Lanmark said:


> Oh I almost forgot...I must compliment you as well on the live moss you have growing at the base of your Kinginrasha plant :smitten: _c'est génial !_



God put it there! I will have to repot later this year or early next spring.



SlipperFan said:


> Kinroukaku looks a tiny bit blue. Is it? They are all :drool:



Ah, the joys of taking photos and trying to show a "real view" over the net. No blue color in the flower or any other straight neo that I know of Dot!

Some more.

Hisui - yes, that is insect damage on the one flower.




]

Ounamiseikai - easy to grow and flower. 






Tougen - a somewhat unusual older form.






And the wonderfulest of all fuukiran, Seikai.


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## Lanmark (Jul 14, 2010)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Hisui - yes, that is insect damage on the one flower.



I'd have snipped away the damaged flower before taking a pic. oke:  Just 'cos I'm snobby :rollhappy:

:drool: @ your _Seikai_!!!!!!!!!! I love my _Seikai_. It's a fantastic cultivar!

Why do you say the _Tougen_ is somewhat unusual; just because it is not widely sold?

Gosh, all your Neos are so lovely! I'd like to be a moth in your garden right now ^_^


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## TADD (Jul 14, 2010)

Still :drool: Awesome


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## jewel (Jul 14, 2010)

wow!:drool:
this might be a dumb question but what is a fuukiran and how is it pronounced?


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 14, 2010)

Lanmark said:


> Why do you say the _Tougen_ is somewhat unusual; just because it is not widely sold?



Yeah, that's about right. You don't see it very much for sale here and I was pleased to snag a piece. I love the endless spurs in particular.



jewel said:


> wow!:drool:
> this might be a dumb question but what is a fuukiran and how is it pronounced?



_Fuukiran_ is a group of selected forms of _Neofinetia falcata_, a native Japanese species. Like everything the Japanese do, it involves a highly complicated system - how to distinguish them, how to properly grow them, how to properly display them, and on down the road. Each form is ranked on a chart (_meikan_), just like sumo wrestlers are ranked, from the top down. There is an official society here in Japan, but the Koreans exert a huge influence at this time. 

How to pronounce? Hmm, I'll do my best to relate it in words. Break it up into syllables: _fuu - ki - ran_

_ fuu_ - like in "The Foo Fighters". Be sure to draw out the the sound (hence the double vowel spelling). Actually the "f" is pronounced with a bit of an "h" sound in truth, so that _fuu_ actually sounds more like a cross between "who" and "foo".

_ki_ - easy, like the English word "key".

_ran_ - a bit tougher...the Japanese syllabic sound "ra" sounds a lot like if you were singing "la, la, la, la!" in English, but the consonant sound is a cross between a "d" and "r" sound. Luckily the "n" is pronounced like an English "n", but perhaps a bit more truncated.

With that in mind, it sounds like "foo - key - ra - n". Good luck!


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## SlipperFan (Jul 14, 2010)

Which syllable has the accent?


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 14, 2010)

SlipperFan said:


> Which syllable has the accent?



Dot, as a general rule Japanese is a flat sounding language, so in this case I'd say they all carry about the same weight.


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## SlipperFan (Jul 14, 2010)

Oh! OK -- thanks.


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## Lanmark (Jul 15, 2010)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> I love the endless spurs in particular.



I have a Hanakanzashi which to date has refused to bloom out with anything even close to flowers with extra spurs, but the one spur it does produce on each flower I would definitely have to describe as endless too.


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## Clark (Jul 15, 2010)

Too much drool for one thread, where's my mop...

Perfect.


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## Linh (Jul 15, 2010)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> There is an official society here in Japan, but the Koreans exert a huge influence at this time.


Really?? How so? What's happening there now that is different from before?


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## etex (Jul 15, 2010)

Beautiful blooms and amazing plants!


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## jewel (Jul 15, 2010)

thanks for the tutorial! that's completely different from how i thought it was pronounced! I've been calling them foo-kir-ran


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## Jorch (Jul 15, 2010)

Beautiful plants!!! I'm still waiting for my Hisui to spike.. hope to get as many flowers as you have!

Neos are so addictive


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 18, 2010)

*More Photos*

Another look at Seikai







The pine needle leaf form Risshiden






And the double lipped/double spurred flowered Soubiryuu


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## SlipperFan (Jul 18, 2010)

Oh, WOW! -- on all three.

Seikai is amazing and beautiful.


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## likespaphs (Jul 19, 2010)

dang...


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## callosum (Jul 19, 2010)

this cross with Ryn.coelestis very fragrant


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## KyushuCalanthe (Jul 20, 2010)

The flowering season is nearly at a close now, but a couple more from today.

Kishuusekko - one of my larger plants, but always so-so with flowering:






Kishuukouryuu - a weirdo, frail flowering form. Kind cool though.


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