Cymbidium floribundum (yellow margin orchid, "Kinryohen")

Japanese name: キンリョウヘン （金陵辺）
Scientific name: Cymbidium floribundum

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial.
An orchid that is half epiphytic and half terrestrial.
It has pseudobulbs, and the roots are thick and cord-like.
Six to seven leaves are borne alternately; they are slender and linear, 20–30 cm long and 0.6–1.5 cm wide, leathery, and stand upright or curve in an arch.
A raceme bears about 20 flowers.
The flowers are purplish brown, and the sepals and lateral petals are almost identical in shape and color.
The lip is 3-lobed, and the middle lobe is broad and patterned.
The flowers have a distinctive fragrance.

[History]
Many variegated cultivars have been produced since long ago, and there were cultivation booms in the Meiji period and before the Second World War.

[Uses]
Because the flowers have a scent that attracts Japanese honeybees, hobbyists use them in spring to capture swarms of Japanese honeybees.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
Grow it in an unglazed clay pot, using sphagnum moss, bark mixed with pumice, foliage plant soil, or orchid soil.
It is relatively hardy and not very particular about soil.
Use a pot with legs or place it on a shelf so that air circulates well under the pot.
From autumn to spring, place it in a sunny spot; in summer, in an airy place in partial shade.
In winter, protect it from strong north winds, frost and snow, but if it is not exposed to a certain degree of cold, flowering may be delayed or the plant may not flower.
To avoid excess moisture, water thoroughly when the surface of the potting material dries, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
Once flower buds appear, keep water off them.
In spring and autumn, apply liquid fertilizer diluted 2000 times about once a month, or place a small amount of slow-release fertilizer on the soil.

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