My first Asian Cymbidium from Mystery Garden Store on Etsy. This plant came in phenomenal condition, no bad roots, no wilting leaves and it had been in the box almost 2 days because I was out of town this weekend and didn't arrive until last night.
Beautiful variegation that reminds me of the more expensive shima 縞 (stripe) Neofinetia/Vanda falcata varieties. The flower I believe is a red one, but I'll have to wait for spring to confirm.
Given I'm in North Texas, this guy has to grow indoors at the edge of the light from the grow lights from my cabinet. They don't handle the extremes of the temperate environment here.
For the Mandarin name, the best I can find for `墨兰` is "ink orchid."
I think `兰` refers to Cymbidiums, as you see it in all the Asian Cymbidum species online. That or it just refers to orchids.
`达摩中透` is something like "Dharma Path/Medium", but `中透` is like "penetrate" or "seep through" and `达摩`is "Dharma" or the concept of virtue, moral order or duties in Buddhism/Hinduism/Jainism/Sihkism. So the variety name probably refers to the yellow variegation of the leaves "seeping through" or making a path through the green. I can't find what "Da Mao" is though, although for all I know that refers to Dharma.
Andrew at Mystery Garden Store might actually know better than just me searching the internet and using DeepL to translate, though.
Can't wait to see this guy flower!
EDIT: Funny enough, whenver you put the character `墨` in DeepL, you get the translation:
"corporal punishment consisting of tattooing characters on the victim's forehead"
But the alternatives are just
"ink stick."
Also the character `中` apparently refers to "medium" or "middle", so it's entirely possible the variety name is "golden medium/middle/path" which makes a lot more sense.
Cymbidium sinense 'Golden Da Mao' 墨兰 达摩中透
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