Japanese Archival Note Card, Cypripedium Haynaldianum by Ikeda Zuigetsu: Ranka-Fu Orchid Series

A drooping stem of small spotted blooms arches over a clump of green leaves.

This archival note card of the orchid Cypripedium Haynaldianum from the Ranka-Fu orchid series is from Japan. Ikeda Zuigetsu lived from 1877 to 1944, and the Ranka-Fu series is an orchid series from Japan, where orchid cultivation had a long history before the twentieth century. In a horizontal print, a slender curved stalk carries several small cream and green flowers with purple speckles across a taupe-grey ground. Upright, glossy leaves fan out at the right. A pale cream border surrounds it. It is 5 inches long and 7 high.

A graceful bow, and all the flowers are in on it.