# Calanthe Show, Japanese Style



## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 18, 2010)

One great fortune about living in Japan is all the orchid shows, particularly the native species. What makes them even more enjoyable is that they tend to focus on one group or species at a time. Yesterday I went to the local _Calanthe_ society's show to see what's new this year. These plants are known as _ebine_. Here's a taste.

There were around 300 plants shown at a shrine in the heart of Fukuoka City. Here is the display of the largest plants. 







This was the largest plant at the show, standing around a meter tall. A plant of this size and quality sells for a pretty penny - well over a $1000 US and 20 years ago it would have sold for much more.






30 years ago there was a run on the wild plants especially on Kyushu. The entire ebine hobby was based on wild collected plants. These commanded crazy high prices, especially really select clones. Here is a form of _C. sieboldii_ called _'Daikoutei'_ ("big emperor"), collected years ago that has been maintained. The man who collected this plant and sold back-bulb divisions off it made mind bending amounts of money on it - supposedly enough to build a large house.






By the late 70's and early 80's whole collections of _ebine_ were dying off wholesale. The reason was a nasty virus these plants so easily acquire and transmit. It looked as though the hobby was going to disappear, but just in time people started to micro-propagate them. So began a new era in ebine, one that lead to today's complex hybrids.

Various lines of naturally occurring hybrids lead to the formation of artificial lines mirroring the wild plants. These included forms known as_ Satsuma, Takane, Kozu, Hizu_, and so on. Of the species, only _C. sieboldii_ and a few unusual forms of _C. discolor_ were maintained in any numbers within the hobby. The focus all moved towards hybrids. Nowadays the separate lines of hybrids has become very complex and overlapping, such that the growers themselves often can't be sure of the parentage except by looking it up (sound familiar?).

This flower has a strong influence of _C. tricarinata_. The broad lip is a desirable feature and such plants make good candidate parent plants.






A similar flower type.






This one has definite roots in _C. sieboldii_, and probably is a _Satsuma_ derived plant (_dicolor x sieboldii x aristulifera_). The bright orange color of this clone is unusual.






The darkest flower at the show was this beauty. Probably another _Satsuma_ hybrid.






Finally, a _Kozu_ type (_izu-insularis x discolor_). These are most noted for their incredible fragrance, which tends towards the floral end while many other _ebine_ are sweet smelling. The length of the nectary is proportional to the fragrance, the bigger the more intense. Size really does matter in this case!






There were tons more plants and variations. These are pretty easy to grow, but disease problems are a real issue, particularly viruses. If a virused plant is detected, it must be destroyed immediately (growers burn them) and the soil and pot must be thrown away off premises. In addition, they are subject to just about any rot that comes along, though usually these can be controlled easily by cutting away the suspect parts and applying fungicide.

Lovely plants, but a bit finicky. Not for the lazy gardener!


----------



## cnycharles (Apr 18, 2010)

beautiful plants and flowers, doesn't look like they would fit underneath my lights!



KyushuCalanthe said:


> Lovely plants, but a bit finicky. Not for the lazy gardener!



oh, then I guess they aren't for me...


----------



## Kevin (Apr 18, 2010)

That's so awesome! Thanks for posting this!


----------



## SlipperFan (Apr 18, 2010)

Interesting history and so much culture!


----------



## NYEric (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanx for sharing.


----------



## tenman (Apr 19, 2010)

Wow! thanks for the pics; interesting to see how wonderful this underappreciated (here in the US) genus can be. 

The show looks interesting, but the pots are vey distracting. Quite lovely themselves, they deserve to be appreciated in their own right, but in a show of flowering plants seem to draw too much attention away from the flowers.


----------



## JeanLux (Apr 19, 2010)

very interesting exhibit!!!! Great blooms, and, yes, great pots!!!! Jean


----------



## Leo Schordje (Apr 19, 2010)

tenman said:


> Wow! thanks for the pics; interesting to see how wonderful this underappreciated (here in the US) genus can be.
> 
> The show looks interesting, but the pots are vey distracting. Quite lovely themselves, they deserve to be appreciated in their own right, but in a show of flowering plants seem to draw too much attention away from the flowers.



A matter of taste I guess, I really like the pots, they are a much better 'frame' for the plant than the cheap, ugly plastic pots routinely used here in the US. The pot serves to visually separate the plant from the table, and should complement the flower color as well, not match the color, but provide the contrast that highlights the leaf and flower color. Again a matter of personal preference.

Tom, I especially like the dark discolor hybrid, Satsuma type and the Kozu type. Thanks for posting the photos.


----------



## paphjoint (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks for the story and for the show !


----------



## Dido (Apr 19, 2010)

Thanks for this beautifull pictures. 

you speak about fungizide and the use at calanthe. 

which kind of fungi do work on calanthe. 

If I saked here no one give me an answer


----------



## monocotman (Apr 19, 2010)

*calanthe hybrids*

Tom,
great photos of plants virtually unobtainable here in Europe.
We just have a few of the species and a couple of hybrids- kozu and takane.
Regards,
David


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 19, 2010)

I agree that the pots make for better showing. Japanese shows are great because of the intensity of their focus on presentation. Everything must be perfect, or nearly so. The truth is that the plants aren't grown in these pots, but in plastic ones, which in turn are placed in these display pots and the top is covered with sphagnum to hide the plastic one. 

Dido, I know that growers here use Daconil and Benolate to treat fungal ailments. The real trick to keeping them happy is a good balance of microflora in the compost. Many folks use organic fertilizer to help with this rather than inorganic salts.


----------



## Jorch (Apr 20, 2010)

Seems like a great show! I've tried a few common species but they don't like my condition


----------



## biothanasis (Apr 23, 2010)

Excellent!!! Thank you very much Tom!!

What's the potting mix usually for these? TY


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 23, 2010)

biothanasis said:


> Excellent!!! Thank you very much Tom!!
> 
> What's the potting mix usually for these? TY



They are mostly grown in a very coarse grained gravel with a little bark and perhaps a bit of charcoal mixed in, especially at the bottom of the pot. Particle size around 0.5-1.5 cm in diameter.


----------



## biothanasis (Apr 25, 2010)

Oh, ok!!! Thank you very much Tom!!!!!!!


----------



## Lanmark (Apr 25, 2010)

Again I gotta say it, you are very lucky man, Tom! Japan is certainly the place to be for orchid lovers!


----------

