This week I would like to present very interesting Cymbidium - Cymbidium (serratum x Eastern Venus).

Cymbidium serratum Schltr. 1919 is accepted species by WCSP (Kew). Found in South China (Guizhoi, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces) as well as Taiwan. Cool to cold growing terrestrial, usually blooms in the later winter and early spring with 1 or rarely 2 flowers per inflorescence. Flowers are mostly green color, but could be orange or red. Cymbidium serratum is very similar to Cymbidium goeringii, sometimes could be find as Cymbidium goeringii var. serratum (Schltr.) Y.S.Wu & S.C.Chen 1980.

Previous Awards:

There are no awards for this unregistered cross.

There are no awards for Cymbidium serratum as well.

Cym. Eastern Venus (goeringii x Slepping Beauty) was registered by Mukoyama in 2003.

There is 1 AOS awards for this cross - Cym. Eastern Venus 'Winston' AM/AOS 85 pts. (awarded with two flowers on one inflorescence)

Description:

The candidate plant has 2 flowers on 1 inflorescence, plus one immature inflorescence. Stem is 17 cm to first ovary.

The plant is 32 cm tall above the pot. Pot inside diameter 9 cm, height 19 cm.

The parentage species that makes up the majority of this cross listed from highest % to lowest % are serratum, goeringii, insigne, lowianum, hookerianum...

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 8.8 cm; NS V - 9.2 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 1.8 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 5.4 cm;

Petal W - 1.8 cm; Petals L - 4.9 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 1.7 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 5.4 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 1.8 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 2.4 cm.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Two flowers on one inflorescence (one immature inflorescence) displaying obvious petal asymmetry (left smaller than right, likely mildly hypoplastic), unremarkable color saturation and little to support an AOS award. Parent Cymbidium Eastern Venus 'Winston' was awarded 85 points in 2019 by the AOS and 75 points Bronze Medal in 2009 by the Cymbidium Society of America. Additionally, cultivar 'James' was awarded a 76 point Bronze Medal in 2007 in New Zealand. From what information I have seen, I agree with the CSA and the Kiwi judgements. The AOS 85 point award must have been amazing in person to earn such a high score. This is a well grown plant with two pretty flowers but not in the range of awardability in my opinion.

An additional image of Cymbidium serratum from Orchid Wiz is appended below FYI:

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Nice size flowers for the size of the plant and larger than parents. Flowers are held just above the foliage - so better presentation than the parents. Love the color and presentation of the column, anther cap and lip. The soft yellow in the throat, pink blush, spotting on bottom of column. The light markings on the dorsal and petals adds interest and harmonize with the column and lip. The shape overall is nice, although the lateral sepals are narrow compared to the parents and the rest of the parts. Overall improvement over parents in form and presentation. I would nominate this for pointing probably high HCC or low AM.

There appears to be 2 possible awards to serratum - one doesn't have a description, the other, the description is very similar to serratum and fits serratum better than goeringii

Trevor Yee (Accredited Judge, AOC, Australia)

It's wonderful to see more of these oriental style Cymbidiums being grown and showcased. For such a compact plant - the flowers are dis-proportionately large. Especially of interest for apartment growers and those with limited space, but even for any orchid enthusiast. Getting the cultural requirements right will be the key to get it blooming (since they are endemic to Korea/Japan/China).

I like the pastel pink outline of the lips on the olive-green flower. Form is typical of goeringii/serratum, so the influence of the complex hybrid is not very evident. All the floral segments are relatively flat and broad, with some noted rolling on the lower ends of the sepals. Flower is symmetrical. The reflexing of the lips is what is expected - but perhaps future breeding might help to reduce the extent of the roll-back.

Once of the parents is awarded and documented - but we can only make a guess of Cym. serratum's form and colour. Considering all factors, I don't believe this candidate is an improvement in my view. Therefore, I will not nominate it for a quality flower award.

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Cymbidium (serratum × Easter Venus)

Looks like a well grown, healthy plant with two beautiful flowers. The flowers appear to have good form, nice erect dorsal, fairly flat and good symmetry. The green colour is pleasing with some faint striping midvein on the dorsal sepal and petals. The lip has a beautiful faint blush of pink and contrasts the green petals and sepals nicely. The dark pink spotting on the column is attractive along with the dark pink at the top of the column and a nice white contrasting anther cap. My only concern are the two small, white spots I see, one on the dorsal and one on the left sepal, it makes me think it might have scale but hard to tell from the photo. Overall, I think this is a very pleasing flower.

I think that this is an improvement when compared to both parents, the flower has better form, more symmetrical and flatter form than either parent and is somewhat larger than the awarded Cym. Eastern Venus.

I would nominate this plant for a quality award and scored if HCC 78.

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Good afternoon, Sergey -

Thank you for sending along a lovely and challenging entry. I find the overall stellate form of the flower fairly balanced and the color contrast between the lip and the sepals/petals very striking. The margins of the dorsal sepal, along with the lower margins of the lateral sepals, are slightly recurved but evenly so. The petals are erect and held only a bit forward of the plane of the sepals. Based on the given natural spreads it is a fairly large flower and definitely larger than its Cym. Eastern Venus parent. The flower count, while minimal, is certainly in line with the parentage since both a parent (Cym. serratum) and a grandparent (Cym. goeringii) produce a single flower on their inflorescence.

As to color, for me our candidate's most appealing feature is the lip. The white offset by the yellow callus and dark pink picotee are truly stunning. While I very much like the green of the sepals and petals, I find the slight suffusion of pink on the basal portion of the petals and along the margins of the segments to be uneven and almost muddy at times. The darker color along the central vein of the petals and dorsal sepal helps to accentuate the upright stance of those segments.

The challenge for me is that we truly have no idea as to the actual clones of the parents used. The images of Cym. serratum (and its synonyms) appear to be all over the place. The one that is pictured for the exercise is gorgeous, but I think use of this form of Cym. serratum would have resulted in a more cupped flower. 'Winston' AM/AOS, the one awarded clone of Cym. Eastern Venus, has beautifully clear color and fuller form in the sepals which I find much more attractive.

As much as I like this flower I would not be inclined to nominate it at this time.

All the best -

Bob W.

P.S. I am attaching images of Cymbidium goeringii var. serratum from The Wild Orchids of Taiwan, considered synonymous. These flowers appear to follow the 'Lily' form and from a genetic point of view would contribute more naturally to the form of the candidate.

Sergey Skoropad (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Cymbidium (serratum x Eastern Venus)

This is probably one of the most challenging entries during our 48 weeks of exercise!

First - this is a cross between two different group of cymbidium (Cym. insigne, lowianum... and Asian Cym. goeringii and serratum).

Second - there are no awards on this cross.

Third - although WCSP treat goeringii and serratum as two separate species, still there’s confusion about two species (like goeringii var. serratum). Also, there are many different forms (shape of the flower) and color forms.

So, I can’t use traditional method to compare candidate to awarded clones or check simple improvements over the parents.

Cym. Eastern Venus received just one AOS award with 2 flowers on one inflorescence which placed this Cymbidium exactly between Cym. Sleeping Beauty (produced 10 or more medium to large flowers per inflorescence) and Cym. goeringii with single flower per inflorescence.

Crossing Eastern Venus to serratum could bring plant size down (create compact plant) and possibly produce single flower per inflorescence, smaller than Eastern Venus.

Surprisingly, current candidate has 2 flowers on one inflorescence; flowers are larger than both parents. Shape is nice, symmetrical. I found lip color is attractive. Flowers displayed nicely within the foliage.

I think creating compact Cymbidium capable produce 2 relatively large and flat flowers per inflorescence is new and promising direction in Cymbidium breeding.

Considering all these factors I think we should recognize this Cymbidium. I would nominate it and score as high HCC. With several flowered inflorescences can score low AM.

Kudos to the grower. Would love to have one in our collection!

Thanks

Sergey

Deb Bodei (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Cymbidium - Cymbidium (serratum x Eastern Venus).

Observations

First impression is the large attractive flowers on a small plant. There is only one registered cross with the serratum species as a parent and it has no photos. It is Sweet Princess and that cross is paired with goeringii which is very similar in culture and habit to serratum. There are very few hybrids at all using this species and Sleeping Beauty and her progeny Eastern Venus happen to be two of them. If we consider that serratum and goeringii are similar in culture and habit, this hybrid has 75% cold growing from its parents. I am interested to know the conditions of this cross and if the other 25% of the parentage has made it more temperate in its culture needs.

I noticed that even though eburneum is a small percentage in the background (not mentioned in the write up) of Eastern Venus, the shape of the petals and sepals are carrying forward the rounded shape with less cupping likely from other parents in the background. In fact, the 25% other species seems to have improved the petals overall. The color and markings of the flower are also very pleasing overall. The symmetry of this flower is very good and the size is good.

Most impressive is that the plant has two blooms. That is rare for serratum as well as the other similar parent species.

Nominations

I am inclined to nominate this candidate for a JC because I think it has attributes that are desirable and should be recognized, but it doesn’t necessarily fit for a flower or culture award. It is an improvement over one parent but not the other by current standards. It has large flowers on a small plant and more than one bloom. I hope there is more to come in this line of breeding.

Thank you,

Deb

Elena Skoropad (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Very interesting cross!

Charming flower, flat, good form, nice contrast between green sepals/petals and pink lip, very pleasing combination of colors. I love green and pink flowers. This cross is practically 2/3 of goeringii. The flower size is very impressive NS 8.8 x 9.2 cm

The awarded parent was on a smaller side NS 7.4 x 6.5.

Unfortunately we don’t see many Chinese Cymbidiums on judging tables in our region. I personally do not have experience in judging these types of orchids and I would like to hear opinion of more experienced judges.

My intuition tells me that the candidate plant could be nominated for flower quality award in high HCC based on color, shape and presentation.

Kudos to the grower. It is very difficult to grow this type of Cymbidium and keep it alive. Good job!

Thanks,

Elena

Exhibitor - Ken Jacobsen, CA (Accredited Judge, Pacific Central Judging Center)

Virtual Award Description

Two large flowers nicely presented on one upright inflorescence held above most of foliage; sepals and petals olive green, pink stripping medially, suffused pink basally; lip white, suffused yellow centrally, pink picotee; column top olive, heavily suffused pink, column bottom white, finely spotted pink; anther cap white; lip and column contrast nicely with rest of flower, pink markings harmonize and accentuate markings on sepals and petals; substance good, texture matte.

Grower's Advice

One of the major advantages in including some component of standard cymbidiums in a Jensoa cross is growability. Whereas most Jensoa can be quite difficult to grow, and can require a significant cool period in the autumn to initiate inflorescences, just a 25% inclusion of standard cymbidium genes results in plants that grow and bloom like standard cymbidiums.

I grow these plants and others I’ve created like them in an unheated greenhouse in Half Moon Bay, California. What this means is they are protected from rain in the winter, and heavy winds. Night time lows can go below freezing in the winter, but daytime winter temperatures almost always reach 60 F (15 C). Summer time lows average a little below 60 F (15 C) and can go as high as 105 F (40 C). Winter light levels are typically about 2000 foot-candles – in the summer this can reach 3500 or more foot-candles.

Species Jensoa require repotting every year, while these do not. Species Jensoa often require extra shading in summer, while these do not. I have found that species Jensoa flowers don’t last long while in the house, and typically remain about 3 weeks on the plant in the greenhouse. These hybrids last at least 6 weeks regardless of being in the house or greenhouse. The species fragrance is preserved, but not quite as strong as the pure species.

The parents used for this cross were serratum ‘Red’, a red form of the species with typical lily conformation, and Eastern Venus ‘Winston’ AM/AOS, B/CSA.