''Cymbidium'' , commonly known as boat orchids, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s in the orchid

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

. Orchids in this genus are epiphytic, lithophytic, terrestrial or rarely leafless saprophytic

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

usually with

pseudobulb The pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and ...

s. There are usually between three and twelve leaves arranged in two ranks on each pseudobulb or shoot and lasting for several years. From one to a large number of flowers are arranged on an unbranched flowering stem arising from the base of the pseudobulb. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s and

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s are all free from and similar to each other. The labellum is significantly different from the other petals and the sepals and has three lobes. There are about fifty-five species and sixteen further natural hybrids occurring in the wild from

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

Asia to Australia. Cymbidiums are well known in horticulture and many

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been developed.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Cymbidium'' are epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial plants, or rarely leafless saprophytes. All are

sympodial Sympodial growth is a bifurcating branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to a ...

herbs. Some species have thin stems but in most species the stems are modified as pseudobulbs. When present, there are from three to twelve leaves arrange in two ranks and last for several years. The leaf bases remain after the leaf has withered, forming a sheath around the pseudobulb. The flowers are arranged on an unbranched flowering stem which arises from the base of the pseudobulb or rarely from a leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

. The sepals and petals are usually thin and fleshy, free from, and more or less similar to each other. The labellum (as in other orchids, a highly modified third petal) is significantly different from the other petals and sepals. It is sometimes hinged to the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

, or otherwise fused to it. The labellum has three lobes, the side lobes erect, sometimes surrounding the column and the middle lobe often curving downwards. After

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an Stamen, anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by Anemophily, wind. Pollinating agents can ...

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

capsule containing many light coloured seeds is produced. File:Cymbidium aloifolium (labelled).jpg, Labelled image of ''

Cymbidium aloifolium ''Cymbidium aloifolium'', the aloe-leafed cymbidium, is a species of orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. ...

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Cymbidium'' was first formally described in 1799 by

Olof Swartz Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes. Biography Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he s ...

who published the description in ''Nova acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis'' based on the description of ''Epidendrum aloifolium'' L. (Cymbidium aloifolium). The genus name ''Cymbidium'' is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

word ''cymba'' meaning "cup" "bowl" or "boat" with the

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

''-idium'', hence "little boat", apparently in reference to the shape of the labellum in some species. In 1848 Blume moved ''Cymbidium elegans'' to form the genera ''Cyperorchis'' on the basis of the sessile lip that was fused at the base and moved ''Cymbidium iridioides'' (as ''C. giganteum'') to section ''Iridorchis'' in 1854. Following the discovery of more species Schlechter created more sections and merged. The genus was revised again in 1970 by P.F. Hunt who changed ''Cyperorchis'' to a section. In 1984 Seth and Cribb divided the genus into three subgenera ''Cyperorchis'', ''Jensoa'', and ''Cymbidium'' with multiple section. Dupuy and Cribb modified the sections in 1988 The three subgeneras were confirmed by molecular phylogeny, however the sections did not show monophyly.

Species

The following is a list of ''Cymbidium'' species accepted by the

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

as at April 2022 separated into subgenera:

Subgenus Cymbidium

Plants in this subgenus have two pollinia, each deeply cleft with callus ridges

Subgenus Cyperorchis

Plants in subgenus Cyberorchis have lips fused at the base to the base of the column.

Subgenus Jensoa

Plants in this subgenus have four pollinia, in two unequal pairs; lips attached to the base of the column,

Natural Hybrids

*'' Cymbidium × ballianum'' Rolfe *'' Cymbidium × baoshanense'' F.Y.Liu & Perner *'' Cymbidium × dilatatiphyllum'' J.M.H.Shaw *'' Cymbidium × florinda'' Rolfe *'' Cymbidium × gammieanum'' King & Pantl. *'' Cymbidium × glebelandense'' Rolfe *'' Cymbidium × hillii'' F.Muell. ex Regel *'' Cymbidium × monanthum'' J.M.H.Shaw *'' Cymbidium × nishiuchianum'' Makino ex J.M.H.Shaw *'' Cymbidium × nomachianum'' T.Yukawa & Nob.Tanaka *'' Cymbidium × nujiangense'' X.P.Zhou, S.P.Lei & Z.J.Liu *'' Cymbidium × oblancifolium'' Z.J.Liu & S.C.Chen *'' Cymbidium × purpuratum'' L.J.Chen, Li.Q.Li & Z.J.Liu *'' Cymbidium × rosefieldense'' Rolfe *'' Cymbidium × woodlandense'' Rolfe

Distribution

This genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia (such as northern India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

) and Australia. The large flowering species from which the large flowering hybrids are derived usually grow at low altitudes, while short leaved species, from which compact hybrids with small to medium size flowers are derived, are high altitudes mountain rocks litophytes & epiphytes.Cribb, P and du Puy, D ''The Genus Cymbidium'' Kew Publishing , 2007.

Uses

Use in horticulture

''Cymbidium'' (abbreviated ''Cym.'' in the horticultural tradeAlphabetical List of Standard Abbreviations for Natural and Hybrid Generic Names, Royal Horticultural Society, 2017 https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/plant-registration-forms/orchid-name-abbreviations-list.pdf) orchids are among the oldest horticultural orchids in the world and were mentioned in a manuscript from the Jin dynasty from about 200 BCE and by

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

. Today they are among the most popular orchid genera in cultivation. They have decorative flowers spikes and are one of the least demanding indoor orchids. To flower well they need a distinct difference between day and night temperatures in late summer. Plants need to remain outside in autumn until night temperatures drop to near . Cymbidiums have few pests or diseases but can be affected by aphids, spider mites and virus diseases.

Use in cooking

The species '' Cymbidium hookerianum'' is considered a delicacy in Bhutan, where it is traditionally cooked in a spicy curry or stew and called "olatshe" or "olachoto".

References

External links

Multikey System for Identification of ''Cymbidium'' species

Cymbidium Society of America

Cymbidium Club of Australia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q843914 Cymbidiinae genera Epiphytic orchids Taxa named by Olof Swartz