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

A tiny pouch flower drifts above wavy leaves in a wide cream field.

This archival note card of the orchid Cypripedium Glaucophyllum 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 small flower with a purplish pouch and green hood sits on a slender stem above broad, wavy dark leaves. The ground is a pale buttery cream with plenty of blank space around. It is 5 inches long and 7 high.

A small subject with an awful lot of room.