Mame-ba

Slippertalk Orchid Forum

Help Support Slippertalk Orchid Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MattWoelfsen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
185
Reaction score
3
Tachitaiho 立大鵬 is nice bean leaf (minature) variety which has upright and narrow foliage. The green color and texture of the foliage is appealing. The flower blooms upward.

Kirin-maru 麒麟丸 is not a beer endorsement! This is described as Mujihagawari--solid base variety, bean leaf. Like Tachitaiho, the flowers bloom upwards, heaven facing.

These are in two inch net pots.

c089719f7bf26a6620bf850a6811ca39.jpg
 
Glad you can tell them apart.


I would be first to admit that if I lost their tag, it would be difficult to tell the difference. But the longer I have these plants I can see the variation from one plant to another. For example, Kirin-maru has broader leaves.
 
The bean leaf Neos are interesting even when not in bloom.
Actually, I hate using such a trite term, but they're really
cute.


Yes, "bean leaf" is nonsensical if you don't grow Neos! Using "mame-ba" causes further confusion for English or non-Japanese (or Chinese, or Korean) speakers. So then you resort to describing bean leaf Neos in comparison to (pine) needle leaf, or regularly formed Neo leaf plants. Before you know it, a 15 minute presentation becomes an hour!
 
Bean leafs are great because they stay relatively small.

Matt- those two neos look great. If I had more space, I would get more beans to fill up the crevices between larger neos.
 
Nice Kirinmaru and Tacitaiho, Matt! I know nothing about Tacitaiho, but Kirinmaru refused to thrive for me for unknown reasons -- so I gave it away. :p Most people seem to have great luck with it.

I grow primarily bean leaf varieties or "beanies" as I like to call them. Among my favorites are Kasen, Otaka no Yuki, Tsushima Ryokuhou, Kabutomaru, Tengyokuhou, Suigai and Aoshinju. Each one of these is unique in appearance and quite easy to distinguish from the others.

All of these are strong plants. Suigai and Otaka no Yuki have the longest leaves among these seven varieties. Tengyokukou and Tsushima Ryokuhou have the widest leaves of these seven. Aoshinju is the tiniest plant overall.

Kasen produces clouds of slightly smaller standard white flowers with bright yellow staminodes and quickly forms beautiful, medium green, low-mounding clumps. Kabutomaru forms magnificent towering clumps because each growth can become very tall and is clothed with leaves from top to bottom. Kabutomaru holds its leaves for a very, very long time.

Kabutomaru and Tengyokuhou both have skyward-facing flowers with short spurs. Kabutomaru produces pure white flowers with very good scent, and Tengyokuhou's flowers are white tinged with pink edges. Tengyokuhou's leaves are noticeably wide. Both are good bloomers.

Suigai has magnificent, dark green pointed leaves and produces large, very long-spurred, skyward-facing flowers which are white and tinged with pink edges.

Otaka no Yuki displays a fine yellow edge on some of its leaves and produces standard white flowers often tinged with pink. It is an exceptional bloomer, and the flowers have very good scent as well.

Tsushima Ryokuhou is very uniform and neat in appearance and produces beautiful sprays of standard white flowers. Its leaves can become quite wide as well.

Aoshinju (Blue Pearl) is an exceptionally tiny, clumping plant very similar to Kuroshinju (Black Pearl). I think Aoshinju is much easier to grow than Kuroshinju. Its small standard flowers are the same as Kuroshinju's except they are edged in pink.
 
I have a wish. I wish the Neo growers would put all their
plants together individually to show the differences in leaf
structure. I enjoy the flowers, but a good show and tell of
the different varieties would be grand. I read all the names and get totally confused.
 
I have a wish. I wish the Neo growers would put all their plants together individually to show the differences in leaf structure. I enjoy the flowers, but a good show and tell of the different varieties would be grand. I read all the names and get totally confused.


Abax, I have a good selection of different leaf varieties. In a separate thread I'll post some of the main styles. Do you own any Neofinetia?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top