This wonderful deep red Cymbidium species is flowering again and we can celebrate both this year’s flowers and the seed pods from last year’s flowers together. We are expecting the seed pods to burst soon (a little over 12 months is usual for Cymbidium pods to mature) and we can’t wait to have large numbers of this lovely species germinated in our lab.

Cymbidium augustifolium is native to lowland forests in the state of Sabah (on Borneo). Cymbidium angustifolium is generally considered a synonym of Cymbidium dayanum which more usually red and white (see our more standard plant flowering  below)

Cymbidium dayanum has a very large range from Sikkim in the Himalayas through China, South East Asia, the Philippines and Borneo and so it would be a surprise if it was not a variable species. However to our eye Cymbidium angustifolium is rather significantly different from the Cymbidium dayanums that we have seen with much smaller and thinner leaves, smaller flowers, and a differently shaped lip, as well as the obvious colour difference.

Whether the plant is an extreme variant within the range of Cymbidium dayanum or a separate species doesn’t matter too much as both types are very beautiful, but we chose to keep our Cym. angustifolium separate and our seed is from a selfing, avoiding crossing with the more typical striped form and losing the distinct features.

We already have seedlings of the more common striped Cymbidium dayanum doing well in the propagation lab.