The plants in Cuigaihe River belong to short grass, with leaves about 15cm long and 0.6cm~0.9cm wide. The grass type is upright, the central leaves are often twisted, the bottom leaves are wide and straight, the blade tips are blunt, the blade tips are buckled and deep, the blade feet are short and tight, and the blade is extremely thin. Compared with Song Mei, the leaves are obviously slender, but they are sallow and shiny. The new buds of Cuigai River are emerald green, and the tips of the new buds have tiny white spots, which are very easy to identify.
The flowers in Cuigai River are typical regular lotus petals, medium-sized flowers with a diameter of about 5 cm. At the beginning of flowering, its buds are tight and round, dark green with a little purple sand halo. The bud feels thick, and the purple veins on the green bud coat are clear. The stem of Cuigailian is short and thick, generally about 6cm high. The flowering period of Cuigai, a master of Yilan, can reach more than 10cm, which is similar to the grass frame. Cuigai Lotus has regular patterns, green color, short and round outer three petals, thin roots, thick inner petals, slow flower release and green and waxy color. Three petals arched, standard mouth, large and round tongue with large semi-circular dark red spots on the tongue coating. Cuigai's mouth is very neat, and the big round tongue complements the lotus petals, making the middle palace look very round. In a word, the leaves of Cuigai River are short and delicate, with a small and exquisite state; The flowers are round and dignified, green in color and rich in fragrance. It's a pity that Bloom's round tongue will curl slightly after a week, and the "skylight" will be slightly exposed after the middle palace is stretched, which is a pity. However, Yu's defects have not been covered up. The flowers in Cuigai River are short in three petals, round in heart and large in tongue, which extends the aesthetic basis of lotus petals and makes the famous lotus petals of Chunlan one of the indispensable varieties for Yilan people since it came out.
As for the timing of Cui Gaihe, it is generally believed that 1900 Shaoxing Feng Changsheng was chosen in Siming Mountain, Zhejiang Province, which is also based on the "Guangxu Gengzi Feng Changsheng came out" recorded in Huilan's short story. But I don't know if you You Lan noticed that I mentioned above that A Brief History of Whelan also distributed a black-and-white photo of this flower, and the words "Cuigai is also called Gaihe, and Guangxu Gengyin is a new species" were engraved on the photo? You know, although there is only one word difference between Gengzi and Gengyin, the time difference is 10 years!
Guangxu gengzi year is 1900, and Guangxu gengyin year is 1890. What is even more unacceptable is that such a fallacy actually appears in the same place in the same book. To this end, later generations of Lanren also had some arguments, resulting in three views:
1. Most Lan people think that the written records of books are proofread and should not be wrong. The words on the picture should be a clerical error, which means that Feng Changsheng chose this flower on 1900.
Some people think that these two times do not conflict. It is very likely that it was selected by others in Guangxu Gengyin Year (1890) (some people say it was Lan Nonghu 70 in Jiashantou Village, Shaoxing), and when it was selected, it left a photo of the flowers, and then it was sold to Feng Changsheng in Shaoxing in Guangxu Gengzi Year (1900). Because this Feng Changsheng is a Shaoxing native, he does business in Shanghai and often buys new orchids from Orchid Gardens in Jiaxing and Hangzhou.
3. There are still a few people who think that this flower was selected by Feng Changsheng in 1890 and taken out in 1900, "planted in the greenhouse with few branches".
The controversy of the digger came from this. According to the second view, this flower was not discovered by Feng Changsheng, a Shaoxing businessman who was doing business in Shanghai at that time. The real digger should be "70 pieces of Lannonghu in Jiashantou Village, Shaoxing were dug in Siming Mountain and sold to Feng Changsheng (originally from Shaoxing) who was doing business in Shanghai at that time" quoted by Huilan, Jiangsu Province. So is the digger Feng Changsheng or Hu Seventy? Mr. Mou Anning, a modern man, has his own views on this. He wrote in his masterpiece "Huilan Zongheng" that there are two views on the selection of "Cui Gai": one is that Feng Changsheng is elected; Another way of saying it is that "70 Lannonghu trees in Jiashantou Village of Shaoxing were dug in Siming Mountain and then sold to Feng Changsheng (originally from Shaoxing) who was doing business in Shanghai at that time." (See Jiangsu and Zhejiang Huilan). ..... "Hu Seventy" has made great contributions to the blue world. At present, in Julie Town, Shaoxing City, Mr. Hu Huayuan, the owner of the traditional Orchid Garden, is over 60 years old. His father, Hu Qishi, was the discoverer of the famous lotus petal "Universal Lotus Ding". At that time, he dug it out from Xiaocaowan, Bushan, Shangyu, and sold it to Yu Kongzhao in Shanghai for 800 silver dollars, which caused a sensation in the orchid industry. Then, if "Cuigai" was also selected by his father Hu Seventy, it is impossible for Mr. Hu Huayuan not to put it on record, and it is impossible to only mention "Global Lotus Ding" without mentioning "Cuigai". Therefore, it seems not enough to say that the candidate for "Cui Gai" is Hu Seventy.
In addition, Feng Changsheng is from Tangdi, Shaoxing. At that time, more than 250 families in 8 natural villages at the bottom of the pond collected, raised and sold orchids, and Feng Changsheng was one of them. Shaoxing orchid culture and Tang Di also mentioned this "prosperous farming style in Tang Dynasty". In addition, Guan Chun was chosen by Tang people in Shaoxing in the 30th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty. "Zi Kui", also known as "the first plum in Wulin", was chosen by Tang Changsheng in Shaoxing during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. Obviously, these records do not involve the saying of "doing business in Shanghai". Of course, it is not excluded that Feng Changsheng picks orchids, raises orchids and sells them, and then goes to Shanghai to do business. It should be after the selection of Cui Gai, Guan Chun and Zi Kui.
These things, although controversial, are not bad, at least adding the cultural color of this flower. It's just that our friends in You Lan now know about it. There is no need to stick to what others say.
Let's talk about the name and meaning of "Cuigai" first. There are few descriptions about the name and meaning of Cuigai in traditional orchid works. Only in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has there been such a description: "Emerald is a small lotus petal after flowering, which is unparalleled in the world, so Feng (Changsheng) called it Cuigai". But this narrative is obviously based on a literal explanation and has some truth. A passage described by Mr. Mou Anning in his "A Horizon of Whelan" is quite original, and now it is also transcribed as follows: "According to the article" Chinese Lotus Culture ",the green cover refers to the lotus leaf. Huagai, originally intended to be decorated with jade feathers, was later used to describe lotus leaves and gradually became synonymous with lotus leaves. " Penny's Fu on Furong in the Jin Dynasty: "Or the stem stands tall, like a carved jade cover". Xiao Yi, Emperor of Liang Yuan, wrote: "Purple stems are soft, red lotus flowers, green houses and green roofs, and plain snails are yellow." "Lotus in the Rain" by Du Yan in the Tang Dynasty: "The beauty with green cover stands close to the water, and the sandalwood powder is uneven and fragrant." Su Shi's "He Wen and Keyangchuan Yuanchi Crossing the Lake" in the Song Dynasty: "I am greedy for the red makeup and green cover, but I don't feel the frost by the lake overnight. In Song Dynasty, Xin Qiji's "Buji: Lotus": "Beauty in red powder, low wind and rain in green cover". Song Yang Wanli's "What a coincidence": "Four Julia apples shine on the green pool, and a thousand miles of green cover protects the red skirt. "
The above account basically found all the words "Cui Gai" quoted in ancient poetry. How to explain it more appropriately depends on You Lan's own opinion.
There are not many high-grade lotus petals in Chunlan. The existing well-known varieties mainly include Cuigaihe, Dafugui (the existing one is a budding variety called Suxin Dafugui), Universal Lotus Ding, Meifenhe, Duanxiuhe, Crane and Dafugui. In addition, Lv Yun, known as the Queen of Chunlan, sometimes opens a regular lotus petal.
In recent years, with the maturity of hybridization technology, hybrid orchids with traditional Chunlan as female parent have emerged continuously, and many hybrid orchids even surpass their female parents in ornamental value, and "Cuigaihe" is no exception. At present, the common orchid varieties crossing Cuigai and its female parent mainly include "Jasper Round Lotus", "Yuanhe" and "Crystal Cuigai", among which "Jasper Round Lotus" is a familiar variety for Lanyou. In fact, this flower is a hybrid of China Cymbidium "Bawangfugui" and "Cuigaihe". Because it is a hybrid variety, the shadow of Chinese cymbidium can still be clearly seen on the leaf shape, and the aroma is slightly weak. But if we put these aside, from the perspective of flowers alone, the good flowers of "Jasper Round Lotus" are really amazing, and I personally feel far above the Cuigai River. Therefore, if the hybrid varieties are excellent and the price is low, I am still in favor of applying high technology to "manufacture" high-grade orchid varieties.
I'd like to end with a poem "Cuigai River" in "Continuing Huilan's Concentric Record".
Cuigai
The breeze brought a delicate fragrance, and the breath of Lan Zhi filled the thatched cottage.
Don't blame the same mind, just blame the goddess companion Xianlang.
Painting Shi Danqing's hand takes a lot of effort and wastes the poet's splendid intestines.
Who can be the enemy of graceful charm? This flower competes with the rain alone for its length.