# My japonicum!



## luis (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi this is my first cyp of the year... my cyp japonicum.


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## NYEric (Mar 11, 2010)

Welcome to STF from NYC. Where are you? Thanx for sharing.


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## Heather (Mar 11, 2010)

Welcome, it's lovely! Also wondered where you were located.


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## parvi_17 (Mar 11, 2010)

Beautiful plant! Are you sure it's a japonicum? The white tepals make it look more like formosanum. The shape of the flower, though, seems to resemble japonicum more. Perhaps a hybrid between the two?


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## fundulopanchax (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi, Luis,

Looks nice! 

I believe you have a Cyp formosanum rather than japonicum. Japonicum has a pouch with a "folded lip" whereas formosanum has a "round" lip like your flower.

Thanks for the photos.

Ron


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## KyushuCalanthe (Mar 11, 2010)

Beautifully flowered - the stance of the dorsal sepal and petals is better than most I've seen. Cool you've got it growing so early, mine are just poking up!


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## smartie2000 (Mar 11, 2010)

:clap: the colour is that of formasanum...

But :drool: this is the prettiest thing in the world! Bravo


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## SlipperFan (Mar 11, 2010)

It's pretty, whatever the name.


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## smartie2000 (Mar 12, 2010)

I had to get home to refer to my Orchid Magazine and make sure I was correct that this is more a formosanum than japonicum.

According to Holger Perner and Bunzo Hayata, Cyp formosanum leaves are not fully expanded by the time it is in bloom, and your leaves are definitely not fully epanded. The leaves in formosanum are also narrower than japonicum (japonicum nearly forms a full circle with its two leaves). The pouch and petals are broader in formosanum. As well smaller forms are found growing in higher altitudes in Taiwan, and your plant seems very small. And the floral stems of formosanum are glabrous (or nearly hairless), while japonicum has hairy stems. I can't tell form your picture how hairy the stem is. And lastly the colours are a little different in the two species.

There are no intermediate populations found...

I think Cyp. formosanum would bloom earlier than japonicum.

This bloom is shaped better than any in the article! (but maybe the photo isnt) The dorsal is held up high. take good care of it.


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## luis (Mar 12, 2010)

*Thank you to all!*

Thank you very much to all. First i'm from Portugal, Batalha (near Fátima). I bought as japonicum, but i'm happy for it and happy for you like it so much.


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## parvi_17 (Mar 12, 2010)

smartie2000 said:


> The pouch and petals are broader in formosanum. And lastly the colours are a little different in the two species.



The pouch on this plant definitely looks more like formosanum. The petal shape was the only thing that I wondered about - formosanum petals are broader, and usually aren't held out wide like in this plant. But japonicum tepals are green, and these are white (like formosanum).



smartie2000 said:


> There are no intermediate populations found...



There wouldn't be, since (at least according to Cribb, 1997) their ranges don't overlap. I just wondered if maybe someone accidently cross-pollinated a japonicum and formosanum at some point. In cultivation it could be possible to have them blooming at the same time. But, I'm pretty sure this is just a straight formosanum.


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## KyushuCalanthe (Mar 12, 2010)

As others have said, you've got C. formosanum there, and a very nice one at that. Comparison of the two - C. formosanum on the left, C. japonicum on the right.







Notice the plant pictured doesn't have the nice, full sepals and petals of your flower. BTW, growing these in Portugal will be a bit of a challenge, but not impossible. The trick is to keep them humid, out of the sun, and moist at all times.


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## parvi_17 (Mar 12, 2010)

Wow, such great photos! I wish we saw more of both of these up here!


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## luis (Mar 13, 2010)

*thank you Tom!*

Thank you very very much Tom! Your advic:wink:e is very usefull to me.


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## cnycharles (Mar 13, 2010)

they both have nice flowers


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## Dido (Mar 14, 2010)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> As others have said, you've got C. formosanum there, and a very nice one at that. Comparison of the two - C. formosanum on the left, C. japonicum on the right.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Really nice photo. :clap:


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## luis (Mar 15, 2010)

*Maby an hibrid?*



KyushuCalanthe said:


> As others have said, you've got C. formosanum there, and a very nice one at that. Comparison of the two - C. formosanum on the left, C. japonicum on the right.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Seeing your photo and comparing it with my flower it seems to me (i'm not an expert) more japonicum, or an hibrid between the two... the upper part is more japonicum and the labelum more formosanum... maby


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## KyushuCalanthe (Mar 15, 2010)

Very unlikely Luis for any number of reasons. That is a full blood C. formosanum you've got, it just has a pretty shape, but is well within the bounds of a normal flower.


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## luis (Mar 16, 2010)

*i like it the same way!*



KyushuCalanthe said:


> Very unlikely Luis for any number of reasons. That is a full blood C. formosanum you've got, it just has a pretty shape, but is well within the bounds of a normal flower.



Ok i surrend my self... i like it the same way . Kyushu let's talk about ch cymb too...


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## etex (Mar 16, 2010)

Lovely bloom! I like yours alot!!


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## McKatelyn (Mar 16, 2010)

To me this Cyp just looks like a pretty formosanum and not a hybrid of any type. This got me thinking though because if you look at a map of were japonicum is native, there are three very distinct populations. I believe the var with a red inner lip is called var. glabrum. I haven't been able to find to much info on what, if any, the differences are between the popuations. Ron mentioned that there was a plant in MA this is a very hardy vigerous grower. Does anyone know if that or the red lips is a specific feature of a certain population?


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## KyushuCalanthe (Mar 16, 2010)

Kate, a few responses from my limited knowledge on the topic.



McKatelyn said:


> This got me thinking though because if you look at a map of were japonicum is native, there are three very distinct populations.



You mean ones in eastern China, Korea, and Japan, true? I don't know how much they are truly distinct as they are separate. More about that later.



McKatelyn said:


> I believe the var with a red inner lip is called var. glabrum.



This variety, described by Suzuki in 1980, is reported only from Ibaraki Prefecture just to the northeast of Tokyo. If memory serves, the stems are less hairy than the normal type, hence the name "glabrum". I'm pretty sure this variety is not generally accepted by the international community, but is still on Japan's Red List.



McKatelyn said:


> I haven't been able to find to much info on what, if any, the differences are between the popuations. Ron mentioned that there was a plant in MA this is a very hardy vigerous grower. Does anyone know if that or the red lips is a specific feature of a certain population?



I too cannot comment much on this topic, but I have seen the difference between Japanese and Chinese plants. Japanese flowers tend to have pale pink lips with relatively few purple striations particularly around the lip orifice. Most of the Chinese ones I've seen have much more purple and the lip orifice can even be completely rimmed in purple. I have no experience with Korean plants. That vigorous plant Ron talks about has a Japanese origin, very likely Shikoku Island.

BTW, to my knowledge no Chinese specimens have been legally distributed outside that nation, but were all wild sourced. To tell the truth, 90+% of C. japonicum in cultivation were not artificially produced, except maybe through division.


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## McKatelyn (Mar 17, 2010)

Thanks for all that info about japonicum, Tom. I don't own one (yet) but its already my favorite species of Cyp. There's a nursery in NC that sells them and I think they are captive propagated but I'm not sure about that. It sounds like you have quite a bit of knowlege on them. I did read somewhere that a lot of the ones in Japan are wild dug from China.


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## wonderlen3000 (Mar 17, 2010)

The plant is very small, so i guess there is hope for my formosum to bloom this spring. =)


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