What is a Neofinetia falcata?

[Neofalcata]

Only the coolest orchid on the planet! Ok, I may be a little biased. Since some of you may not be familiar with the joy of growing Neo's, as I call them, let me tell you what I know. If you want to learn more, the most recent issue of Orchid Digest has an article written by Jason Fischer on the subject.

What follows is part of a written history I have compiled. It is not to be published anywhere else, because it hasn't been fact checked. These are snippets of information taken from reliable sources, but they are in many cases, third hand information. I hope someday to travel to Japan and really discover the history behind the orchids.

Neofinetia falcata are found in Japan, China and Korea. They are epiphytes, meaning they grow on trees but don't take nutrients from the tree like a parasite. They grow in clumps, so mature growths don't die, they keep growing and blooming and producing more new growths.
They are small, measuring from 3 inches up to 10 inches in some varieties. The flowers can be pink, green, yellow or white and they smell like sweet coconut or vanilla depending on who you ask. They are more fragrant at night if you ask me, and can fill an entire house with fragrance from just a few small blooms.

They are mentioned in texts written in the early 1600's as "Kieran Ichimei Fuuran" which is later shortened to fuuran. Fuuran literally means "wind orchid."

The gardeners of the Somei region of Japan began collecting the orchids from the wild in the 1660's. A text written in 1665 contains growing information for many plants, including fuuran. You may know of the Somei region and its famous gardeners, who are responsible for perfecting the cultivation of cherry trees and crysanthemums in Japan. These gardeners were hired to tend the gardens of the daimyo, and the gardens of the shogun at Edo palace.

The daimyo were wealthy samurai. In order to become daimyo, a samurai had to have 10,000 koku of rice. One koku of rice is enough to feed one person for one year. According to the Tokugawa museum in Japan, the gardens of the daimyo were "designed for strolling: they had rolling land representing mountains, valleys and plains surrounding a large pond representing the sea at the center. Such vast gardens were used for entertaining visits from the shogun, for greeting other daimyo, and for conducting ceremonies."

Only the daimyo and shogun were allowed to grow fuuran. Indeed, peasants in Japan were not allowed to grow many ornamental plants, except bonsai. With the reign of the 11th Tokugawa shogun, Ienari, the fuuran would be linked forever with the Japanese elite.

Ienari had an elaborate garden where the fuuran were kept. Wooden stands made of ebony and rosewood supported his large collection of more than 200 fuuran. He covered the most valuable orchids in nets made of silver and gold. Visiting daimyo were required to cover their mouths when viewing his fuuran garden so that they did not breathe on the orchids. Ienari was especially fond of plants that had variations in leaf shape and flower color. Daimyo would often bring him rare fuuran to influence political decisions.

Around this time the name fuuran is changed to fuukiran. Fuukiran means “orchid (admired by those with) wealth and rank.” The term fuukiran is still used today to describe the various cultivars grown in Japan.

There is a lenghty and demanding process that is required for a Neofinetia falcata to be classified as a fuukiran. See Jason's article for more about this.

There is much variety in the plants themselves. There are different types of leaves, flower shapes and colors, and even root tip colors. If you want to see more of them, head on over to Orchids Limited, or New World Orchids and take a look at the selection of different types of Neo's, or fuukiran they offer. I don't want to post commercial links here, so if you can't find the websites for the above vendors, private message me and I can point you in the right direction.

I hope this little history makes you want to own one of these gems.