CYMBIDIUM | Herbarium Digital Library


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CYMBIDIUM

Category: Plants and Orchids
Date Posted: 2006-10-13

FIVE INDIGENOUS CYMBIDIUMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM the Philippines; however, only C. Finlaysonianum and C. atropurpureum are really well known among Philippine collections and a third, from Mountain Province, C. Daymaa, is occasionally encountered. A11 three have been known to science since about 1880, but they have not been acclaimed by horticulturists because they were early overshadowed by the Hi'malayan Cymbidiums, and in more recent years by the beautiful hybrids. The genus, Cymbidium, includes about fifty-five species which are widely dispersed throughout southeast Asia, the Malayasian Archipelago, tropical Australia, as well as Japan and New Caledonia. The genus was founded by the Swedish botanist, Swartz, and published for the first time in 1800 at the same time as Dendrobium and Vanilla. The generic name is derived from the Greek word which refers to the "boat-like" shape of the labellum of the genus.

C. Finlaysonianum is widely distributed throughout the Malaysian area, having been collected by Finlayson in Cochin-China during the early years of the nineteenth century. It was dedicated to him by Lindley, who originally described the plant in 1832. The leaves of this species are leathery and coarse, 35 to 40 inches long and 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches wide. The raceme is pendulous, about two to four feet long and many flowered. The flowers are two inches in diameter, sepals and petals rather narrow, long, and colored a dull tawny yellow with a reddish-brown median line. The labellum is threelobed, the center lobe being whitish with a yellow disk and purple-crimson apical spot. This plant usually flowers during March and April and the flowers last about two weeks. It is somewhat fragrant in the morning.
C. atropurpureum also has a wide distribution throughout the Malaysian area and is a plant with dark-green leaves as long, but narrower than C. Finlaysonianum. The racemes are somewhat shorter, being only twelve inches long and the flowers have maroon-purple sepals and petals with a velvety gloss. The plant was first collected in the Philippines by Cuming in 1840 and the specific name atropurpureum refers to the darkpurple color of the flower. Some authorities consider C. atropurpureum to be a variety of C. Finlaysonianum.

Plants of C. atropurpureum and C. Finlaw.conianum are common in the low forests of the Sierra Madre Mountains and other similar areas from five hundred to about three thousand feet elevation. Both are epiphyticals or semi-epiphytic growing in the bowls of a branch of a large tree where considerable humus collects from decaying leaves and ferns. In cultivation, the plant should be grown attached to trees or in open wooden baskets with leaves, rocks and humus.

C. Dayana differs from those previously discussed because it is more of a terrestrial species and is native to the mountainous areas of northern Luzon. It is a smaller plant with leaves eighteen to thirty inches long and three-quarters to one inch wide. The flower spikes are twelve to fifteen inches long, drooping, and have eight to twelve flowers. Individual flowers are about one to 1 1/2 inches across, sepals and petals similar, narrow and about three-quarters of an inch long. The background color of the flower is whitish and there are carminecolored lines on the small recurved labellum as well as on the sepals and petals. C. Dayanum was originally described in 1869 by Reichenbach from material collected by J. Day from the Assam area of India. The plant was first reported from the Philippines in 1933.

In greenhouses, big clumps of specimen plants of these Cymbidiums are very decorative for, even if not in flower, the lush foliage makes an attractive background. Pots are soon broken by the strong fleshy root system of these Cymbidiums, and care should be taken to provide ample space for root development when the plants are potted. The best method to establish large plants is to hang them upside down and syringe them every few days. After the new roots have started to develop, the plants should be mounted. Cymbidiums are one of the most hardy of the indigenous orchids, and are excellent shippers, withstanding long periods of dryness. This is also an excellent genus with which beginners may become familiar with the requirements and care of orchids before acquiring some ofth4 more delicate species.