Birth flower for January 10
Cymbidium
Meaning: a heart without pretense
In China the orchid is one of the Four Gentlemen of art, alongside plum, bamboo and chrysanthemum, praised for perfuming lonely valleys whether or not anyone is there to notice. Those classic orchids are fragrant cymbidiums. The name comes from the Greek for 'little boat', after the shape of the lip. Big modern hybrids, with a dozen or more blooms per spike, are now Taiwan's favorite Lunar New Year pot plant.