Illustrated Investigation of the Names and Realities of Plants (Volume 25) (1848) - Page 18

⚠High-contrast woodblock scan with a prominent horizontal crease or fold line across the center of the image.

Volume 26 of the Assembly of Fragrant Plants original: Qunfang Juan zhi Ershiliu (羣芳卷之二十六). This volume of the encyclopedia specifically catalogs various species and varieties of fragrant flowers. Grade B original: Yi (乙). The second character of the Celestial Stems, often used in historical Chinese texts as a ranking or classification marker, similar to "Category 2" or "Second Class." Called "Sparrow's Child" in your honorable country today. original: Suzume-no-ko kikoku kon (雀ノコ貴國今). This is a Japanese annotation in Katakana and Kanji. It suggests that the plant known in China as the "Red Orchid" was identified by Japanese readers as "Suzume-no-ko" (Sparrow’s Child), likely referring to the Epipactis thunbergii or a similar orchid variety known locally in Japan. Orchid

Red Orchid

The term Honglan (Red Orchid) historically referred to orchid varieties with reddish or purple-tinted flowers or stalks. In the woodblock illustration, the artist captures the classic "sword-leaf" structure and the delicate, nodding blooms that define the Cymbidium species, which have been cultivated in East Asia for over a thousand years as symbols of moral purity and scholarly refinement.