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MINI-CYMS: Section JENSOA

Moderator: Lois Greer
1966

My subject is the small-flowered, warmth tolerant, four species subgenus Jensoa, and its use in miniature cymbidium breeding.

ensifolium
monronianum
sinense
kanran

All four currently being used in miniature cymbidium breeding. We will explore ensifolium hybridizing trends in greater depth, with particular emphasis on CYM Peter Pan 1st generation hybrids.

"The Genus Cymbidium', by David Du Puy (Du PWEE) and Phillip Cribb, is the basis for much of this program; I also sincerely thank Milton Carpenter of Everglades Orchids for many of the slides, and much of the data on warmth tolerant cymbidiums.

The famous PETER PAN, clone 'GREENSLEEVES',
[registered by Dos Pueblos/1957]
which is (ensifolium X Miretta), was awarded in 1960.
It was infertile until it was converted to a tetraploid by
Dr Donald Wimber.
Through 1990 there are 146 registered CYM ensifolium progeny;
93 are Peter Pan hybrids.
Of these 93 hybrids, 17 received a total of 35 quality awards --
18% of Peter Pan hybrid registrations have been awarded.

Peter Pan has been criticized for dull, muddy flowers in a
limited color range, attributed to its ensifolium heredity.

Species ensifolium is NOT imposing in either size or color, however, we will find not only its small flower size recessive, but continuing improvement in 2d generation color and form, and demonstration of dominance in other pleasing attributes:

modest plant size
fragrance
warmth tolerant summer bloom habit which, when hybridized with winter blooming standards, results in "mixed up" children -- many blooming all year round.

Ensifolium hybrids have been awarded in every month except Apr/May/Jun.

Of the 44 recognized cymbidium species, warmth tolerant genes are available in all four of the species comprising the Jensoa Section of Subgenus Jensoa, a grouping characterized by:

Lip free, attached to the base of the column,
or (rarely) to a short column foot;

4 pollinia, in two unequal pairs, and
Callus ridges converging at the apex of the lip, and
forming a short tube at the base of the midlobe.

ENSIFOLIUM:

typically 3 to 9 flwrs,
3.0 - 3.5 cm natural spread (ns)
with red-striped ss/ps
and spotted lip.
There's also an album form.

MUNRONIANUM:

very similar to ensifolium in size,
both have red-striped ss/ps, and spotted lip
-- munronianum lip is narrower --
BUT monronianum has more flowers:
8-13 to ensifolium's 3-9

SINENSE:

8-25 5.0 cm chocolate-brown flowers,
sinense is small-flowered, but unlike the other three Jensoa species,
it is larger in stature
(The picture is Cym. sinense 'Chocolate Pudding', HCC/AOS
awarded in Miami in Dec 1991)

KANRAN:

generally 5-12 well-spaced flowers
4.5 - 5.0 cm ns

All four species are small flowered, with narrow ss/ps, their petals jutting forward to one degree or another, and a propensity for green -- that green readily supplemented by the heavy doses of eburneum, lowianum and grandiflorum in the breeding lines of standard cymbidiums.

AND carrying genes for:

small plant size (sinense intermediate)
warmth tolerance

Stature and fragrance can be recessive; e.g., Cym. Helen Sims (Peter Pan X Rod Stewart) with the larger statured, fragrant Cym. sinense as a grandparent (25%) is a 24" plant, smaller than either parent, and without fragrance.

The genus Cymbidium is widely distributed in SE Asia from NW India to Japan, and south, into Australia, with the heaviest concentration in SW and SE China, and NE India. No members of subgenus Jensoa are endemic to Australia.

On with green Peter Pan and some of its progeny in our quest for award-winning form and color --

Judging Considerations

Form

of less roundness or fullness,
BUT ALSO less cupping than most standards;
some FINE cultivars have open, star-like appearance

Color

which is definite and clear --
suffusions should be regular, not mottled/muddy

Dorsal
Sepal
(ds)

some ds hooding from "standard" parentage acceptable
(Jensoa ds erect; most standards porrect)

Petals
(ps)

foward jutting ps should be almost indiscernible

Lip

proportionately sized,
not strongly turned under, narrowed or pinched,
and distinctively colored/marked/patterned

Flower
Size

to equal or exceed GEOMETIC MEAN
of both parents

Presentation

flowers well-arranged, carried above foliage, and
-- while not judging criteria --
aesthetically pleasing

AESTHETICS:

modest foliage
smaller pseudobulbs
longer blooming season
scent

Cym. Peter Pan 'Bert', HCC/AOS, 78 points [1989]
(ensifolium X Miretta) [by Dos Pueblos/1957]

9 flwrs/0 buds/1 infl
6.1 cm ns
Described as sage green, and white lip with rose-burgundy edges.

Certainly we find good form, overall improvement over both parents,
clear color,
dominant V-shape lip barring of lowianum ancestor prominent and pleasing,
good presentation

Cym. Miretta (Claudette X Mirabel) makes Peter Pan an 8th generation plant.

There were six Peter Pan awards 1960 - 1991. They average 14 flwrs and average lip size of 6.0 - 8.5 cm ns

More recent directions in 1st generation Peter Pan hybridizing:

Cym. Evergreen 'Summer Sizzle' (no award)
(Siempre X Peter Pan 'Greensleeves 4n') [Everglades/1985]

10/0/1
6.7 cm ns
clear, bright chartreuse flwrs w/intense solid red lip banded in white

Siempre is (niveo-marginatum X Brentwood)
niveo-marginatum is listed by Du-Puy/Cribb as a synonym for ensifolium

So Cym. Evergreen, a 10th gen plant, has gained -
clear, bright, chartreuse flowers,
gorgeous dark lips
18-1/2" spikes and 15-18" foliage, PLUS
temperature tolerance
delightful fragrance, and
multiple blooming habit
from ensifolium GRANDparents on both sides!

Cym. Warm Waters 'Summer Star'
(Nila, clone 'Green Gold' X Peter Pan 'Greensleeves 4n')
[Everglades/1982]

20-30 flwrs on 1 spike
8.0 cm ns
24" plant

Cym. Nila 'Green Gold' is (Esmeralda X Irina)
It is a reliable bloomer, with long spikes, and many flowers.

Cym. Warm Waters 'Summer Star' seems to have inherited the best
qualities of its predecessors:

widened sepals
distinct lining of the petals
a dark lip
very little cupping

Cym. Green Glades 'Reba', HCC/AOS, 75 points [1990]
(Gainesville X Peter Pan) [Everglades/1982]

9/0/1 7.3 cm ns
pale chartreuse, ss/ps spotted reddish basally;
lip midlobe, wings and column marked maroon

Recognized for its brightly colored lip,
and clearness of color
- The yellow-green of Peter Pan is often speckled
or bears apparent latent striping

Cym. Autumn Green 'Golden Charm', HCC/AOS, 75 points [1987]
(Peter Pan X Peetie)
[M Kawano/1989]

15/0/1 9.0 cm ns
yellow green w/faint red suffusion at ps edges
ps edged and veined "inner half shading to green at tip
lip heavily spotted red-brown.

Cym. Peetie (Sicily X San Miguel) gives this Peter Pan hybrid
3 infusions of Cym. tracyanum, known to produce red in
combination with the insigne-schroederi complex.

Cym. Autumn Green with 12 parts Cym. insigne and
3 tracyanum is over 1/4 possible red genes

Greens breed pretty much at will with the
eburneum-lowianum-grandiflorum line.
And standards have a high ratio of these 3 species.
Even with album forms, sometimes the green comes through.

Other colors are more of a chance due to mixed breeding lines,
but reds are known to occur with the insigne-schroederi complex
in combination with the i'ansonii-tracyanum-lowianum complex.

Cym. Wild Colonial Boy, ''Wolfgang', HCC/AOS, 77 points [1990]
(Coraki X Peter Pan) [Geyserland/1989]

10/3/1 7.0 cm ns
ss/ps pale green brushed bronze length-wise
That beautiful full, round lip is 3.5 cm x 3.5cm!
midlobe maroon edged greenish bronze,
throat creamy yellow, gold yellow crest

Cym. Everglades 'Strawberry Shortcake 4n' (unawarded)
(parishii var 'Sanderae' X Peter Pan, clone 'Greensleeves 4n')
[Everglades/1981]

12 - 15 7.5 cm flwrs on a 24" plant
with Cym. Peter Pan expressing itself as pink

The breeding in this plant is an indication neither Peter Pan nor miniature cymbidium breeding has come to a dead end.

Several years ago, the late Emma Menninger located what is
thought to have been last surviving plant of Cym. parishii
var. 'Sanderae' (the mother plant of this grex), and it was mericloned.

There also is a converted tetraploid form of Cym. parishii var. 'Sanderae'
which was renamed Cym. parishii 'Emma Menninger 4n'
[Milton Carpenter, 11 WOC]

Cym. parishii var. 'Sanderae', reclassified by DuPuy & Cribb as Cym. sanderae, is intermediate in size, and warmth tolerant.
The Carpenter 'Sanderae' mericlone blooms reliably
every winter without losing buds to the Everglades heat,
producing ivory white flowers with red lips on erect spikes.

So we find Peter Pan hybrids markedly progressing in both form and color - reflecting the positive results of selective breeding programs which include tetraploidy and the remaking of parent stock.

We find other promising Cym. ensifolium hybrids bringing warmth tolerant genes to the hybridizing scene - genes which allow ensifolium to bloom in summer Florida temperatures of up to 105 degrees.

Both Andy Easton and Milton Carpenter have high expectations for the ensifolium line of breeding opened by Cym. Korintji:

Cym. Korintji 'Golden Showers', (no award)
(ensifolium X Rangoon)
[Stewarts/1963]

12 - 15 flwrs 7.0 cm ns
blooms 2-3 times year on a 24" plant

Cym. Korintji 'Golden Showers' X Cym. Green Glass (unnamed and not awarded)

18 flwrs on 1 spike
11 cm ns
30" plant

Cym. Green Glass (Miretta X Fanfare) measures 12.5 cm ns.
Cym. Green Glass greatly increased the form and size of this grex.

Cym. Korintji 'Emerald' X Cym. Rod Stewart 'The Wedding Party' (unnamed and not awarded)

8-10 flwrs
8.0 cm ns
24" plant

And now the golden promise of Cym. Golden Elf - the ensifolium hybrid Milton Carpenter feels is the best bet in achieving temperature tolerance in cymbidiums.

Cym. Golden Elf 'Sundust', HCC/AOS, 76 points [1983]
(ensifolium X Enid Haupt)
[Rod McLellan/1978]

17 7.6 cm flwrs
clear, unspotted concolor sulphur yellow
good form, favoring ensifolium
18" high

Cym. Valerie Absolonova 'Everglades' [no award, patent pending]

(Golden Elf X Peter Pan 'Greensleeves 4n')
[Everglades/1989]

4-5 spikes with 10 - 15 9.0 cm flwrs
from butter yellow glowing pink
petals spotted centrally
solid red lips
24" plant
Within 30 days after flowers fade, more spikes appear
and this goes on year-round!
Certainly a gorgeous flower for a plant which is 50% ensifolium!

Imagine Golden Elf progeny made with the chance tetraploid on the LEFT versus the diploid on the RIGHT

The Elf's promise is its glowing, clear, solid golden ss/ps and lip, which should allow high percentages of clear-colored offspring of smaller plant stature -- almost 50% smaller than Cym. Peter Pan -- free-blooming, easy-to-breed, and blooming 365 days of the year in a 4" pot!

Let's look at progeny of the other two species of Subgenus Jensoa: A pink Cym. Helen Sims (not awarded)
(Peter Piper X Rod Stewart 'Purity')
[Everglades/1989)

8 - 10 flwrs per spike
8.0 cm ns
24" plant

Cym. Peter Piper is (sinense X Paracel), and
Cym. Rod Stewart is (parishii X Fred Stewart)

I'd like to see Cym. Peter Piper bred with a full, dark standard red
carrying several doses of good reds
(e.g., Ceres, President Wilson, Carisbrook, Rio Rita)

Lastly, a hybrid of the Section Jensoa cymbidium species kanran - Cym. Magic Flute 'Luzon', HCC/AOS, 76 points [1970]
(Blue Pacific X kanran)
[Bea Ireland/1970]

14/0/1
7.9 cm ns
bronzy-green w/deeper bronze lines
lip yellow, heavily spotted w/maroon
and solid maroon at apex

Cym. munronianum is not recognized by the registrars. Even though Milton Carpenter used a munronianum species selected for flatness and full form to produce (monronianum X Peter Pan, clone 'Greensleeves 4n'), the registrars did not feel munronianum warranted species rank, and the hybrid had to be given the name Cutesie, a previously registered (ensifolium X Peter Pan) grex. The two awards made to two prior Cym. Cutesie cultivars are both annotated "slightly cupped", while the Carpenter grex is purportedly flat. Even though miniature hybridizing with the warmth tolerant species of the Subgenus Jensoa is still in its infancy when compared to the hybridizing history of the standard cymbidums, we are finding gleaming yellows, vivid pinks, and glowing bronze tones in these ensifolium complex hybrids, and there are positive indications the drawbacks of forward jutting petals and small lips are being overcome.

Whether we call the offspring miniatures, polymins, intermediates, or multi-florals, the small-flowered, warmth tolerant Jensoa species - - ensifolium, munronianum, sinense, and kanran - - are offering the promise of year-round color and fragrance from tall spikes of ELEGANT flowers on plants of modest size.

Ten years ago, Richard Peterson asked:

"How are we going to respond to the many new hybrids involving the often tiny, usually differently shaped, Chinese Cymbidium species? ...adjustments in taste, within a genus noted for a very traditional judging attitude, will either have to be consciously made or will occur over a period of time almost before we are aware of it. If such does not occur, we shall miss out on a great area of obvious, but non-traditional beauty."

In summary it is my belief that in evaluating a warmth-tolerant cymbidium, value should NOT be based entirely on the characteristics expected of the standard parent, but should be formulated by what we can expect from the Subgenus Jensoa species, in combination with the established hybrid.

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