Vanda falcata 高隈 (Takakuma)

My orchid room gets filled with wonderful fragrance every year around May, and the fragrance intensifies in the evening.  We were away for 10 days at the end of May this year, so we missed quite a bit of this experience, but there are still some Vanda (Neofinetia) falcata blooming in the mid-June.   

This variety, 高隈 (Takakuma), has white tiger variegation, and the pattern is fairy fuzzy (i.e. the borders of white and green parts are not sharply defined).  You might be wondering why this is "white" variegation since the variegation in the photo shows more yellowish patches.  But they are whiter in the new leaves and as the leaves become older, the variegation either disappears and/or becomes yellowish.  Most leaves on this plant are from last year or earlier, so you don't see the new leaves with white variegation in the photo.  Horiuchi (1995) mentioned that it would retain the beautiful variegation longer if it is grown under more shady condition, but the leaves become etiolated if it is too shady, and the challenge is to balance these two factors.  It is likely that my plants are receiving too much light, and this may be causing more yellowish variegation.

As you can see from the photo, the width of leaves are fairly wide in this variety, and the side of plant is relatively large.  The leaves are also less recurved (more standing).  Since it is a strong grower, it is a common variety and you can obtain it inexpensively.  Even though it is cheap, tiger variegation varieties are fun to grow because the expression of variegation is influenced by the culture.

According to Mr. Yoshimitsu Tezuka (手塚 義光), who manages Fuukiran (Neofinetia) History Museum web page (富貴蘭歴史資料館), this variety existed at least 150 years (link).  It was mentioned in one of the oldest prints about Vanda falcata: "Shohachimono-shuukainomaki" (諸鉢物集会之巻, link to the image, link to info in Japanese).  The title roughly translates to "Publication of Miscellaneous Potted Plant Collector's Association/Gathering", and it was published in 1855 (Edo era) by two plant shop owners; Hyouemon (兵右衛門) and Yahyoue (弥兵衛).  The original collection site of this variety is not known (Horiuchi 1995, Taguchi 1987).

Also, this variety has been used to make new varieties by crossing with other varieties since the tiger variegation of this variety is strongly heritable (Watanabe 2014).  For example, a crossing with Amanogawa (天の川) produced Ginkaku (銀閣), which shows marginal and tiger variegation simultaneously.  The marginal part of Ginkaku is actually Sankou-nakafu (double marginal variegation, 三光中斑), similar to Nishidemiyako (西出都).

 I mentioned that we were away for 10 days at the end of May.  We were in Florida, and having fun fishing and other things.  Here are a couple photos.

Coppernose Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus ssp. purpurascens).  This one is a fairly big one, but we had fun catching many small ones, too.

 

Florida Largemouth Bass (Micropterus floridanus)

Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus).  It fought a lot and was 24 inch, pretty big for this species.

Atlantic Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus). Guided by Chris Haught of Inshore Charters. We caught lots of fish, and all of us had super-fan.  Chris was great with a kid, and I highly recommend to fish with him if you are around St. Petersburg, FL.

And here is the video of the charter fishing.  Unfortunately, my camera fogged up in the middle of my son fighting a common black-tip shark, so the quality of the video isn't great.

We did lots of hiking, too, and we saw many cool creatures.  I looked for native orchids, and we found Encyclia tampensis!  We saw about 5 plants, but only one of them were flowering.  It was exciting to see it in its native habitat.

Encyclia tampensis in its native habitat.

 

 Literature Cited:

• Horiuchi, K. 1995. 堀内 一博(著),  富貴蘭―230種の特徴と楽しみ方 (ポケットカラー事典), 三心堂出版社 (translation: Author: Kazuhiro Horiuchi, Title: Fuukiran: features of 230 varieties and how to enjoy them, Publisher: Sanshin-dou).
  
• Taguchi, M. 1987. 田口 源夫(編著), 富貴蘭―趣味のラン科植物シリーズ 2. 池田書店  (translation: Author/Editor: Motoo Taguchi, Title: Fuukiran, Orchids for Hobbyists Series Volume 2, Publisher: Ikeda-Shoten)
• Watanabe, S. 2014. 渡辺章悟(発行人), 伝説と進化の美　富貴蘭, 栃の葉書房 (translation: Editor: Shougo Watanabe, The Beauty of Legend and Evolution: Fuukiran, Publisher: Tochinoha-Shobou.