# Far East Sister Cyps (mini-book)



## KyushuCalanthe (May 3, 2011)

Two species very closely related, but considered by most taxonomists to be distinct, are _C. japonicum_ and _C. formosanum_ (sometimes referred to as a variety of _C. japonicum_). They are different in regard to stature, flower color and shape, and importantly, ease of culture. The following are plants I've been growing over the past 5-7 years.

_C. formosanum_ is found only in the higher elevations of Taiwan's north central mountains where it is has become very rare due to collecting pressure. Thankfully, it is a pretty easy species and a natural clumper. This group is in fact one plant that I started with 5 seasons ago as a single, unflowered division. This spring it has 10 growths and 9 flowers. The flowers have a pink base color throughout with darker purple-pink spots and mottling - these form striations within the lip orifice and are more concentrated at the bases of the petals and dorsal sepal. The petals are quite broad and the lip has an inflated, puffy look. The staminode is a deep reddish-purple color. Pure white forms exist and are as rare as hen's teeth. The plant itself is a bit smaller than _C. japonicum_ and the main stem is far less pubescent.







Here is a pot of the same species that I've grown for 7 years. As you can see, the plants are healthy, but mostly not flowering. There are perhaps 4 separate plants in the pot. So, why is it doing poorly? Simple - hot roots in summer. More about that later.






_C. japoncium_ is a far ranging species found over a large area in central China, the Korean Peninsula, and throughout the mainland islands of Japan. It is absent from Taiwan however. Still fairly common in parts of its range, but becoming increasingly rare from collecting. This species in particular has been difficult to grow from seed, so virtually all plants being grown are either wild collected or divisions of wild plants. The lip has an overall pink base color, but usually not as rich pink as _C. formosanum_, and is suffused with purple-red striations and blotches particularly around the lip orifice which is front facing (as in _C. formosanum_ and _C. acaule_). Chinese specimens tend to have more of this purple-red color than Japanese plants. The lip shape is a bit more elongate and has prominant "horns" around its orifice. The sepals and petals have a pleasant light apple green color with a few purple speckles at their bases as well as light green hair. Alba forms do exist and are exquisite as well as expensive. A flowering size division will set you back $500-$1000 per even here in Japan. The plant itself is more robust than _C. formosanum_ and the main stem is much more pubescent. 

These plants have been growing for three years now. They tend to not do to well one year after transplanting, then pick up steam the second season and start to rock the third season and on. This year there are 24 stems in all from 3 separate batches I've grown. There were 10 buds; 3 were taken before opening because they were new plants, 1 bud aborted, 6 flowered. Next year there should be a larger crop.






This bed was made 4 years ago on the edge of a woodland (that's why everything is pointed in one direction). The plants are growing in a mix of native soil (a sticky volcanic loam), kanuma, and composted wood and leaves. Over this is a 1 cm thick layer of pumice to prevent leaf rot when the monsoon rains come in June. Both species like a rich compost with a good amount of organics and must not dry out, in particular _C. japonicum_ hates dry roots.






Luckily both do not require a long, cold winter to vernalize well. All that is needed is 3 months below 10 C (50F). Likewise, though they don't like it, both can withstand very hot temperatures in summer. Last summer was the hottest on record for my area with an AVERAGE temperature of 30.4 C (86.7 F) for the month of August and you can see these just sailed through without a hiccup! One thing - like all Cyps they do not like hot roots and so in warm climates growing them in pots is a bad idea. That's why the pot grown _C. formosanum_ are growing much slower than the ground based ones (yes, I'll move them into the ground this year).

The most important difference between the too (other than looks) is ease of culture. Hands down, _C. formosanum_ is easier and can even take a fair amount of abuse before dying outright. _ C. japonicum_ is the bigger, spoiled sister to be sure. Important to note is that _C. formosanum_ appears to be less cold hardy which isn't surprising given its home on the very edge of the tropics (albeit at high altitude). If grown in a greenhouse it can stay green from late February through early December. _C. japonicum_ grows well up into Hokkaido where winters are far more severe, but it too can stay green from April to mid November. In general _C. formosanum_ is a good USDA zone 6-8 plant while _C. japonicum_ will grow from zone 5-8 well. Probably zone 7 is best for both species though, at least in the eastern USA.

Anyway, that's quite enough. If you've made it this far, I thank you for your patience. More Cyps coming on now, so I'll post a separate thread about those later once they all flower.


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## SlipperFan (May 3, 2011)

Beautiful flowers and photos. I absolutely love the leaves on these!


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## Heather (May 3, 2011)

The leaves remind me of a velociraptor! Thanks for the great info, Tom.


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## Hera (May 3, 2011)

Very beautiful. THe leaves are almost a treat themselves.


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## yijiawang (May 3, 2011)

Hello Tom, I very happy to see these beautiful rare species grow well in your garden!!! I think you are the first one who grow these species in Zone 8 successfully. Next step, maybe you try albino?


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## yijiawang (May 3, 2011)

PS: did you test your soil temperature?


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## NYEric (May 3, 2011)

Thanx for the info and photos.


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## cyprimaniac (May 4, 2011)

Tom, 
thank you for that detailed information 
and really nice pics.


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## Hakone (May 4, 2011)

Hello Tom,

thank you very much for the info and photos.


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## Marc (May 4, 2011)

A very interesting read, thanks for the time invested Tom.


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## tocarmar (May 4, 2011)

Tom very nice reading!!! I love the pics!! I grow mine in pots, this year I am going to build a bed under some pine trees to put in some acid lovers.. I bury the pots to help when it gets real hot in the summers it gets up in the 90-100here usually for short time.. I have a north facing bed that gets only morning sun & they seem to do very well there..


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## goldenrose (May 5, 2011)

OHHH - stop tempting me! 
:clap::clap: :drool::drool:


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## s1214215 (May 6, 2011)

Nice Tom

Hope the seed you sent me of the formosanum germinates.. I think I can actually get that one to grow in Australia without cooling, but will have to see.

Good growing

Brett


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## Dido (May 6, 2011)

Thanks Tom for your comments and pict. 

Did you try to Hybrid japonicum to other kinds?


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## monocotman (May 6, 2011)

lovely photos and great information,
well done!
David


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 8, 2011)

Dido said:


> Thanks Tom for your comments and pict.
> 
> Did you try to Hybrid japonicum to other kinds?



No, I didn't. I did try to cross formosanum with Aki and fasciolatum though. We'll see if they produce seed. I think japonicum is going to be an "ugly ducking" parent. Kind of like plechtrochilum - not a good plant for hybrids but wonderful in and of itself.


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## Dido (May 8, 2011)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> No, I didn't. I did try to cross formosanum with Aki and fasciolatum though. We'll see if they produce seed. I think japonicum is going to be an "ugly ducking" parent. Kind of like plechtrochilum - not a good plant for hybrids but wonderful in and of itself.



Did you see hybrids with japonicum or plectrochilum before. 

I only have seen hybrids with formosanum and the hybrid with fasciolatum looks really great. Or the picture i have seen with Acaule. 

Till now I have this year the first japonicum who flowered will flower the second time for me, so maybe I will try to do a hybrid with it. 

plectrochilum ones till now never started germinate in different labs, when corssed. So till now no success. 
The same with pure plectrocilums.

This is the only picture I know 

http://www.w-frosch.de/Cypris/Hybriden/hybrid_d.htm


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## biothanasis (May 10, 2011)

Amazing set of cyps..!!!


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 11, 2011)

yijiawang said:


> PS: did you test your soil temperature?



Yijia, sorry missed your question. No, I have not monitored soil temperatures, but I can tell you they are higher than 20 C in the summer months, say from July through all of September. Now you know why I struggle to keep Cyps alive here 

Hmm, an albino C. japonicum sounds wonderful and I even have a bit of (foolish) confidence about growing one now, but dinner sounds better! :rollhappy:


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## yijiawang (May 11, 2011)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Yijia, sorry missed your question. No, I have not monitored soil temperatures, but I can tell you they are higher than 20 C in the summer months, say from July through all of September. Now you know why I struggle to keep Cyps alive here
> 
> Hmm, an albino C. japonicum sounds wonderful and I even have a bit of (foolish) confidence about growing one now, but dinner sounds better! :rollhappy:



Thank you for answer, these plants grow really nice in warm climate. I remember you said some hybrid can not live long time in your garden(or your neighbor's? lol) You grow them by this way? Because I just want to try hybrids because heard easier~


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 11, 2011)

yijiawang said:


> Thank you for answer, these plants grow really nice in warm climate. I remember you said some hybrid can not live long time in your garden(or your neighbor's? lol) You grow them by this way? Because I just want to try hybrids because heard easier~



Just be careful about the parents used. I've only grown Gisela (parviflorum v. parviflorum x macranthos) and Philipp (kentuckinese x macranthos) for more than 3 years and am trying new ones this season. Gisela has grown for me, but poorly because of the parviflorum parent I think. Philipp has done well though, I think because of kentuckiense and its heat tolerance. 

The best choices (I'm guessing) would be hybrids where one parent at least is heat tolerant. Following that logic, hybrids with the following parents might do well in a hot place:

japonicum and formosanum (very limited availability, as in almost none!)
kentuckiense (best bet in my opinion)
henryi (seems a good choice, but untested by me so far)
fasciolatum (again, maybe a good choice)
pubescens (ditto)

This year I'm trialing out Michael, Sabine, Victoria, Lothar Pinkepank, and Aki. I'd love to try Sunny, Lucy Pinkepank, Uta, Ulli, and of course Tom Velardi!!!


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## Dido (May 12, 2011)

A friend of me lives in Zone 3 in Us. 
But with very hot summers, he told me that Acaule is doing well 
in his region and grows naturally, they grow best for me in pots, and they are mostly higher in root temp than growing in the ground. 
Could be interesting to try too. 
Tom Velardi sound good, never seen one in the market, 

Tom you never tryed it with pubescens. 

Did you tryed it with rebunense, because I get told a lot of guys in Japan grow it.


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 12, 2011)

Dido said:


> A friend of me lives in Zone 3 in Us.
> But with very hot summers, he told me that Acaule is doing well
> in his region and grows naturally, they grow best for me in pots, and they are mostly higher in root temp than growing in the ground.
> Could be interesting to try too.
> ...



To answer your questions one at a time:

- many places in the far north (Siberia for instance) can get very hot during the day, but this usually is for a very short time and importantly night temperatures are cool. Here the average temperature stays above 25 C for at least 3 months which means highs above 30 C and lows not below 26 during the hottest period (mid July-mid September). Cyps don't like that.

- tried acaule once and the soil fungi here ate them alive. I could try again in a pot, but they're pretty pricey here.

- Tom Velardi was just registered last year by Ron Burch, so I imagine he won't have any in production for some time.

- I grow parviflorum v. pubescens and though it doesn't increase in the number of growths, it flowers every year. I also have parviflorum v. parviflorum grown from deflasked seedings. Two persist but haven't reached flowering size for 5 years now. Too darn hot!

- macranthos v. rebunense is a no go here in the hot south. You can get it, though not for cheap. I grew macranthos abla for three years and it just languished here so I gave it away.

I am pushing the limit here with most Cyps and well beyond in truth.


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## Dido (May 12, 2011)

Thanks for that infomations Tom. 

Someone told me rebunense is availabel in Japan, so I was wondering. 

This year we have seen a lot of yatebeanum in the market from Japan. 

But the flower in my one was dead when it showed up. 

Acaule need low Ph anything else is not important. And not to wet in winter. 

have the pots in a shade during the winter and it works, they really hardy freeze but not too much water. 

It workesd for years outside with a pot, but this year often melting the now and then the noses in this pot dyed, but the roots looks good and the plants will recover.


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## yijiawang (May 12, 2011)

Hello Tom and Dido, Thank you for communication experience in this forum, these informations are very important for me and other hobbyist--- Cypripedium is exotica for warm or subtropical city people, You job improve these highland plants go to strange garden. Maybe one day, we could grow banana and Cypripedium together.


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## Hakone (May 12, 2011)

I grow cypripedium with bamboo :rollhappy:


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## yijiawang (May 12, 2011)

Nice to enjoy your garden picture, these Bamboo grow very well, how cold in winter? and how to control the rhizomes? I remember their root run fast..... maybe harm to other plants, especially those slipper orchid. Thick stem...en, maybe you could cut some Bamboo new nose in early spring, delicious~


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