A new variety of orchid that is easy to cultivate and grows rapidly has been developed by floricultural scientists, the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute said on Wednesday.
The cultivar, named Tainung No. 8 “Hua Mulan” (台農8號-花木蘭), is the latest variety of Oncidium flexuosum created by the institute-run Floriculture Research Center, the institute said.
The variety is relatively hardy and flowering occurs two years after the transplantation of the bottled seedling, it said.
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
Its flower has mainly light-pink petals with hot pink spots that resemble camouflage, it said, adding that researchers named the cultivar “Hua Mulan” because of the arrangement of feminine colors in a military pattern.
The plants stand 50cm to 60cm tall, making them easy to transport, while they have a pseudo-bulb containing one or two buds, and the flower pedicels are 40cm to 60cm long, the institute said.
The orchid flowers with multiple fragrant blooms in November and December, and the inflorescence has an aesthetically pleasing proportion to the height of the plant, it said.
The variety was created through a collaboration between researchers, farmers and consumers, the institute said, adding that industry’s full participation in the selection process resulted in flower cultivars that are adapted to market demand and local growing conditions.
The patent for the cultivar was secured in September last year and interested parties can apply for authorization to grow the flowers, it said.
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