Botanical Cymbidium to identify
 

Hi everyone :waving
I've this Cymbidium blooming now, i purchased it as a Cymbidium goeringii, but i'm in doubt about it....

C. goeringii has only one flower for stem, mine has 3 flowers... and the plant is quite large for a goeringii, it's about 50 cm tall..

I think it could be a C. goeringii var. longibracteatum, or a Cymbidium x nishiuchianum, a natural cross between goeringii and kanran...

What do you think about? :)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eringii009.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eringii008.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eringii004.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eringii002.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...eringii010.jpg

Claudia,
I am not certain that it is goeringii but believe that it is.
Orchid Wiz shows plants with three and four flowers on each spike so dont rule out goeringii because of the flower count being more than one.

Claudia, it looks like a goeringii hybrid to me. Like you, I've read that goeringii only produces one flower per spike, not multiples. Perhaps it has some ensifolium in it, but the Chinese cymbidiums it's kind of hard to tell since members of this family seem to have similar characteristics (both plants and blooms). Whatever you have, it's certainly beautiful--and it looks like it should be fragrant. Do the flowers have any scent?

Steve

Claudia: very nice plant that you have there! I wonder if you might have Cym. formosanum (it is sometimes sold as goeringii v. goeringii) Hopefully Cym Layde will chime in, she usually has a good handle on Asian species
At any rate, good growing!
Adam

let the experts give their opinion (not talking about me :D), but according to IOSPE goeringii can produce spikes with 1 - 3 flowers...

Thank you all... I know that it's not so easy to identify a specie for sure...
PS: the flower has no scent....

Have you considered the possibility that it might be ensifolium? Looks like that species to me and does not look like a hybrid. The linked photo is of ensifolium va. rubrigenmum: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...igenmum_2_.jpg.

Hi,
Quite certain that it is not ensifolium!

This one I have not seen only the more fuller types. It is lovely and I like the colors. Nice growing.

Greeenorchid,

I am not an expert on the Asian Cymbidium species and with Cribb and Dupuy listing virtually everything from Asia as a goeringii, it leaves the book wide open to identification. For now, I would classify your plant as a Cym. goeringii but I am hesitant to put a varietal on it. The longer leaves resemble those found on what is now called var tortisepalum although it may well be that the talking heads in the orchid world will again reclassify this var as a Cym tortisepalum as it was originally called. It is not unusual, as this classification now stands, to have up to 6 flowers on a Cym. goeringii var tortisepalum. However, the sepals on var tortisepalum have a graceful 1/2 twist, which your flowers seem not to have. Cym goeringii is not known for its fragrance.

This leads me to state my opinion :twocents: that I feel many of the so called goeringii varieties are in fact separate species, natural hybrids or "man-aided natural hybrids" reestablished in the wild. This may be my skepical nature but until these plants are selfed and the offspring turn out all the same, there will be a question in my mind as to the true names of many of these plants. Much work needs to be done with these species and I hope someone attempts to scientifically sort them out one day. :scratchhead:

CL