Here’s two very closely related species, C. japonicum and C. formosanum.

First, C. japonicum. This plant can be found, as the name suggests, in Japan, specifically in mountainous areas from Kyushu to Hokkaido. The species is also found in Korea and much of central China. It likes a deep shade situation with plenty of moisture and yet excellent drainage. It appears also to favor an acidic soil. Having said all that, it is not an easy plant to grow, in fact many Cyp experts have a hard time with this species. Here’s a couple flowering plants in my garden:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CjaponicumFLPL.jpg

A close up of the flower:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/JaponicumSingle.jpg

The next plant, C. formosanum, is so closely related to C. japonicum that some authorities consider it a subspecies. It is endemic to the mountains of central Taiwan being found only at high altitudes there. It seems to like a rich soil, circumneutral in reaction and well drained. Unlike its near cousin it is not particularly difficult to grow. It is becoming something of a rarity in the wild due to collection pressure for the orchid hobby. Currently it is being micropropogated by several large Cyp distributors. Here’s a couple plants from this spring:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/Cypformosanum3.jpg

A close up of the flower:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CypformosanumPort.jpg

I successfully cross pollinated the C. japonicum this spring, and also hybridized the japonicum with the formosanum. The seeds were sent to Ron Burch, and given his expertise in germinating Cyps, I predict babies in the near future! I’m hoping the cross with produce strong plants with hybrid vigor.

Tom Velardi

Beautiful plant! I really like the leaves! :clap:

Beautiful species and it looks sort of prehistoric. Thanks for posting!

Beautiful :clap:

Nice Pics
Hopefully the hybrids get more easyliy grown than Cyp jap and hardy as Cyp formosa
Interesting to see what will be of them:)
It is like seing an avalanch coming with the development on these Cyps from no hybrids to a lot and to breeding as well

Very nice
Joakim

WOW :jawdrop:

Those are really stunning, Tom. Good growing and thanks for showing them! So, where exactly is your garden anyway? And when are you not home? 8)

In all seriousness, what's the hardiness of these beauties? Do you grow them outdoors year round? The leaves are so cool on these.

Leaves are awesome, to say nothing of the flowers!!!

Wow, what gorgeous foliage! Never seen a Cyp. like those before, very beautiful.
The formosanum is my favorite of the two.

Thanks for sharing, I so enjoy seeing more photos of Cypripedium.

Thanks for the great shots, Tom. japonicum looks very much at home in your Japanese garden. My only plant makes nice leaves but has yet to bloom, maybe 2006.... For those interested, Asiatica Nursery has some for sale currently. This species seems to make nice masses in its native habitat or perhaps those masses are often photographed, there are many nice shots on the web. To see a photo for 30,000 blooming plants, see the photo of the garden of a man who was quite fond of the species and propagated them for decades! http://www.cypripedium.de/forum/messages/358.html I hope to make my garden look like this with 30,000 specimens each of several different species! :D

Ron Burch

Exotic! The photos, the flower, the foliage - simply PERFECT!
Thanks for sharing.
Mang

Thanks for the great shots, Tom. japonicum looks very much at home in your Japanese garden. My only plant makes nice leaves but has yet to bloom, maybe 2006.... For those interested, Asiatica Nursery has some for sale currently. This species seems to make nice masses in its native habitat or perhaps those masses are often photographed, there are many nice shots on the web. To see a photo for 30,000 blooming plants, see the photo of the garden of a man who was quite fond of the species and propagated them for decades! http://www.cypripedium.de/forum/messages/358.html I hope to make my garden look like this with 30,000 specimens each of several different species! :D

Ron Burch

Thanks a ton Ron! The 30,000 odd flowers are fantastic!

Mang

WOW that is nice.

An essential part of farmer Ikeda's careful husbandry was the disbudding of plants to redirect their resources to the rhizomes which would then branch and proliferate." 20 years after the start he let the plants flower for the first time...

Well, granted the foliage IS super nice, but I don't think I'd have the patience for this sort of culture!
Wild!

That is quite amazing! Those cyps are incredible Tom! I have yet to move that way in my growing. I would like to some day, but really need to investigate more cultural requirements and space issues. That yard is amazing with all of those plants in one spot! Wow!

Hello everybody,

Thanks for all the nice comments. I thought you would like these two. The heavily pleated fan-like leaves are unique to these species, and I think are half the attraction. Both are winter hardy to at least USDA zone 6. Colder than that and you may have problems without a lot of mulch. Of the two C. formosanum is the more tender one, and has a tendency to sprout early (sometimes even as early as late February). This makes the new growth vunerable to late frosts. They must be protected from these or they will be lost. Its foliage also lasts the longest, even until December if kept frost free.

Both species are also clumpers in time. C. japonicum takes a few years to settle down before getting vigorous. C. formsanum in particular is renown for its vigorous clumping behavoir, and if kept happy it can form nice colonies relatively quickly. Here’s a shot of a group in another grower’s garden:

http://www.cypripedium.de/forum/messages/366.html

C. japonicum remains difficult to get in the US and C. formosanum is not that common either. Here in Japan both are readily available, but unfortunately they also are commonly wild collected plants. Pure white forms of C. japonicum fetch handsome prices, anywhere from $500 to $1500 for a single growth! Ouch!

Tom Velardi

STUNNING! All of it....the flowers, foliage, photos.... :WOW:

Spectacular!

thanks

:clap: unbelievable looking flowers, thanks a lot for sharing, they are beauties :clap:

20 years without flowers almost sounds like me growing :) :(
To have the patience to wait and the will power to take away the buds I am almost crying when I break a flower from plants with several blooms like phal. I would never be able to debud the plants.
Joakim

WOW!!! That is amazing, stunning foliage and a super flower, what a combination. :clap: :clap: :clap:

OK, here’s a few URLs showing C. japonicum in the wild. Man these plants can form big colonies!

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.wajima-city.or.jp/kankoutop/hana/kumagaisou.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkumagaisou%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26l r%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://oota8.net/hor/y-oota/kumagaisou.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkumagaisou%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26l r%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.sainet.or.jp/~kasai/minuma/kumagaisou.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkumagaisou%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26l r%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://kasuga.web.infoseek.co.jp/comment/kumagaisou.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkumagaisou%26start%3D90%26hl%3Den%26l r%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

Just one word to describe them, WOW!!!

Ahhh! You're killing me, Tom! Those remind me of a group of Cyp acaule colonies I know of but these are stunning because they're so --- exotic! 8)

Incredible displays. Just incredible!

The foliage on these reminds me of the dinosaur in Jurassic Park that kills they guy who played Newman on Seinfeld.
It has that big fan that comes up around it's neck right before it smokes him. :D I looked but I can't find the name of the dinosaur,
I wanted to add a link to a photo.

Yeah, maybe one of you growers of japanese Cyps can name a select cultivar 'Dilophosaur' 8)

http://images.google.com/images?q=dilophosaur&hl=en

Incredible displays. Just incredible!

The foliage on these reminds me of the dinosaur in Jurassic Park that kills they guy who played Newman on Seinfeld.
It has that big fan that comes up around it's neck right before it smokes him. :D I looked but I can't find the name of the dinosaur,
I wanted to add a link to a photo.

You wouldn't find it because that dino was made up by Hollywood, it was based on the living "frilled" lizard that runs on it's hind legs (I can't remember the species name). In reality, no such dinosaur fossil was ever discovered. Another JP tidbit, the velociraptors size was exaggerated by Steven Speilberg, he wanted them big and at that time, raptor fossils indicated they were the size of a small dog but right after the film was completed, large sized raptor fossils were discovered, the same size as depicted in the movie! What a coincidence!

Yeah! Shady to the rescue!!
That's the one, thanks!!

Thanks again Tom for the shots in the wild. Love them!
Mang

Nice pictures from the wild.
They does not seem to differ that much even though they come from different places, or is that only my untrained eye?
Is it a variation in this one or is the only "variation" Cyp form. that is a different species? Or is it some more variations.

Nice picures again and impressive

Joakim

I cannot comment on variation within the species much since I have seen just a few plants in culivation and none in the wild so far. Of the plants I've seen, the greatest variation seems to be the amount of dark purple banding around the center opening of the lip. My plants this spring had essentially none of this while others have a lot. One friend of mine has dubbed it the "baboon butt" Cyp since that opening looks like....I think you get the idea. Needless to say, he doesn't like the plant much!

Other than that, I've seen pictures of pure white forms. The are occasionally offered in catalogs from $600-$1500 per plant! Too rich for my blood, thanks! Of course, variation within a naturally occurring population would be noticeable, but I've not seen any wild plants yet. Kyushu, the warmest main island in Japan, is supposed to have populations of this species in the higher mountains. I have yet to get over that way during blooming season. I don't know how successful I will be finding them anyway since all Cyps in Japan have become quite rare in the wild. Still, next spring I'll try to find some.

Tom

Well, this is just totally unfair because these plants aren't even available here in Oztraya! (I think)

Stephan, hurry up with that flasking of the seeds will ya! :poke:

Absolutely just loving all the pics of this/these plants, and the leaves are so beautiful too, and then the shape of those lips... spins me out!

LOVE IT!!!

cheers
tim

ps if anyone knows of someone who has any Cyps in Oz, please, please let me know....

I hope You will have the oportunity to see the wild population. I bet it would be worth it.
I agree a bit with the comment baboon butt but Cyp acaule is even more like that all pink I think.
I was just curious if they have other colour on the petals like yellow or more markings or no markings. This would have been seen in the plants for sale as well I presume so maybe it does not exist that many.

A white with a white acale might be a nice white. Less acid needing and more cold tolerant and maybe with interesting leaves. They might be too far appart to give nice offspring even if the flower is a bit similar.
There is a hybrid made by Whitlow madeby acaule x formosanum called Promises but i have not heard so much about it so it might not be that good. Maybe someone else would be more lucky and if they would with two whites it would be even more interesting.

good luck orchid hunting :)

Joakim

Here's the two clones I've had so far. The one on the left shows the deep purple markings around the lip oriface, while the other is relatively free of this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CjaponicumComp.jpg

I haven't seen plants or pictures showing any real variation in the sepals and petals. They seem uniformly apple green to my eyes. :roll: The white form sounds lovely if you've got the pocket book to back it up!

That cross between formosanum and acaule didn't look particularly lovely in the photo I've seen. I guess it was not easy to grow. As for crossing acaule with japonicum, I think it would result in a similar flower. Japonicum grows in acidic soils in nature, so I suspect the cross would be acid loving too. Neither species is particularly easy to grow however!

Tom

Really nice pictues Tom
Nice plants congratulations to the two nice versions.
I agree on the apple green petals. The whiter petals in Cyp form is nicer I think :)

Does Cyp jap need as acid water as Cyp acuale? Some water Cyp acuale with water with a spoonful of vinegar to get it a bit acid.
The hardiness might have been improved as well for a cross, but there might not be good growing so there is maybe no point testing.

Once again very lovely photos and plants

Kind regards
Joakim

Spectacular close-up!

thanks

Well here are my C. formsanum this year. Due to the hot climate and the compost I use, it is necessary to repot yearly, something most Cyp growers don’t do. I wouldn’t recommend it either, but in my situation is necessary. Here are the plants in flower last spring:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/Cformosanumpot.jpg

And now the plants yesterday. There are a total of six, with nine buds for next year:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CformosanumRoot.jpg

Here is a healthy double eyed plant:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CformosanumBuds.jpg

In all likelihood I will get some blooms next season. I’m guessing anywhere between two and six. The roots on the plants were fairly dark, but not rotting (a good sign). Also, a few of the new roots stopped growing at a short length which indicates they were stressed in the late season heat. Others however were quite long, and all were healthy. All in all, I’m fairly satisfied.

Tom

Those roots look so huge compared to the wee ones I got the other day! But I'm patient. At least for a while. 8)

Thanks again for showing us your stuff!

Hey Shady,

Each species has different size roots, some thicker and some thinner. I've seen plants from Hillside and they have healthy roots, albeit a bit short (probably from pot culture). I think you'll be seeing some blooms next spring! :Party:

Tom is one of the formosa a bit grenish on the back of the septals petals almost towards the apple green of japonicum or is it just due to the flower is young and will be whiter in a few days? If not It looks a bit different from the others. That would be extra fun.
Thanks for the nice and educational pictures it helps to make the day better.

Good luck with the hard work on fighting the zones of Cyp growing :)

Joakim

My Hillside plants actually were good sized, but I recently placed another order with another vendor just to try them out. (amazing what a glass of wine with dinner will do) :roll: I ended up with four formosanums and a macranthum, just seedling size which are snoozing in the fridge now. My plan is to grow them in pots next season and if they put on enough growth get them in the garden next fall.

Joakim,

Yes, that is an immature flower. It later opened to become fully pink. I worry about my Cyps all summer long, but they always seem to amaze me come fall! I think I've been lucky so far.

Shady,

My guess is that you bought from Roberts, true? He does offer plants rarely seen these days in the US, but honestly his plants are mostly imported from Europe (Phytesia), and they can be of substandard quality. I've not done business with him personally, but I know folks who have and their assessment was not very positive. Still, good luck with you new babies! They can give you pleasure in a few years if you take care of them well.

Tom

Shady, I second Tom's suspicion that the seedlings are from Robert's, likely via Phytesia. Just to clarify - I have received a number of species from Phytesia and they have been uniformly spectacular. Since these are young seedlings, just out of flask, it is the subsequent handling that seems to do them no good. For those not familiar with Phytesia, they are a Belgian company that sells flasked seedlings in lots of 50. They have things not available in the US. I have several species entering their second and third years that originated from them and they cannot be beat! If you see Crustacare, that is the same grower (or rather collaboration of growers). I will be ordering from Phytesia for spring delivery. Since I dont really need 50 of any of them - OK, I dont NEED any at all but then this is an addiction! - I will post when I receive, probably May, and folks can share the wealth for cost.

Ron Burch

I agree with Ron about seedlings from Phytesia. The seedlings I got from Phytesia were nice and were at a good price. I dropped 1 seedling on the floor when unpacking and at the evening when I came back it was very dry and not sure that survive. This was just to tell how sensitive they are when they are out of the package.
I thought I posted theis yesterday but I did not. ??
By the way I sold off some of my surpluse at the local Orchid society (8 seedlings). I think it was a hit :) People were happy and I split the cost with more persons. The delivery is express mail so it was 35€ =40-45$ from Belgum to Sweden so maybe order more (sorts) in a group, if possible, to split the cost of transport.
They were very nice to deal with.

Joakim

Bingo, guys! The plants are from Roberts. I'll give them the best care I can. One of the formosanums looks like it doesn't have a bud but there was one more than I ordered. They looked pretty healty, just small. One had a black root that I removed.

Questions: How often should I take them out and check on them and when should I pot them up next season?

I have found that if I leave them in the moist sphagnum they will invariably rot. When I remove mine from flask, I rinse them carefully in RO water (I have very hard well water so I do not use tap water, if yours is reasonably soft, just use it). I then place them in zip lock freezer bags (lots of people use the sealer bags so there is no chance of dessication). I rinse several times in the bag with autoclaved (pressure cooker) RO water, and drain all but a few drops. I then make sure essentially all the air is out and zip the bag. The seedlings always do best if there is just enough water to keep them from drying - the right amount will condense on the plants but not have much else in the bag. I use the autoclaved water since a few times I have apparently had mild bacteria/yeast/whatever issues in the water which causes the roots to darken - this has not seemed to harm the plants, they grow just as well, but I prefer the roots to stay whitish! Another thing to watch over carefully is that they not be allowed to freeze and thaw, an upper shelf is better, those on the bottom may sometimes freeze. Also, the refrigerator has to be cold enough, 41 F max to 35 F or so, but be careful about the cold, if the temperture is always near freezing, then when the compressor turns on you may get transient freezing and with the very small volume of water in the bag, freezing is easy. You should take a look at the seedlings every 3-4 weeks to make sure they have not broken dormancy. This always happens to me with kentuckiense and formosanum. If they do, you may have to pot them in the house. With kentuckiense and reginae, three months of refrigeration is fine but pubescens, macranthos and others like 4-5 months better, and formosanum is likely to start growing with even less than three months. Here is a bag of seedlings with just the right amount of water; even though this is only the very lower right corner of the bag there is no water anywhere else in it, just the condensation around the seedlings (which are very choice Perakos Queen Pubscens - a plant that has been in his mother's garden for 33 years and was given to her by farmer who was near 90, who had been picking flowers of it for his mother's birthday since the farmer was 10 years old; so the plant is well over 100 years in age and sometimes (if the voles dont attack it over a given winter) has more than 30 flowers:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/Cypseedlingsinbag.jpg

Good luck - keep them from rotting!

Ron Burch