Raindrops keep fallin' over KL

This entry is actually an extended reply to the comment by a prodigious blogger (Kebun Malay-Kadazan girls) who is also a good gardener's comment on one of my post about the weather in KL (All hail the weather...). Hope you like the pics :-)

Today started off bright and sunny. Then the clouds suddenly crept in and poured over KL around lunch time. By 3pm, the rain stopped, but by 6pm, dark clouds rolled in again and boy did it pour. That didn't stop until 8pm. That made it cool and nice, but definitely wet.

The dark clouds hang over KL, 'clipping' off KL Tower and the Petronas Twin Towers.

In contrast to that, we had a beautiful sunset last Thursday evening (24 Nov 2011). It had been a hot day and I thought that the day would end in a thunderstorm, but the clouds that were formed were light and those clouds broke the light from the setting sun. Just beautiful. So yeah, the weather has just been crazy lately...

Sunset over Kuala Lumpur on 24 November 2011.

Ascocenda Vernon Kebodeaux

Ascocenda Vernon Kebodeaux is a bigeneric orchid hybrid resulting from  the crossing of Ascocenda Tubtim Velvet with Vanda Charles Goodfellow. Pictured below is one that has a yellowish colour with a chartreuse section visible made by crossing the pod parent with V. Charles Goodfellow 'Yellow'.

The colour for Ascocenda Vernon Kebodeaux ranges from having off-white background with pink polka dots, pinkish-yellow-green background with  pink spots, clear yellow-green background to white background with no spots; these background variations are usually marked with a chartreuse inner lateral sepal section (see here - JGL Agricultural). If you take a look at the last page of the Saint Augustine Orchid Society newsletter (Vol. 3 Issue 3) you will see a similarly yellow coloured Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux (flowering from 3 nodes at the same time!) and a pink polka dot version from their website (photo 62-13).

It is interesting to note that the family name of the person that this orchid is named after is a strange one, of Spanish origin, Quevedo, then 'frenchified' by the Southerners to Quebedeaux, and then changed to Kebodeaux.

Ascocenda Vernon Kebodeaux - this photo was taken in 2009, in my very 'jungle-like' orchid shed growing under neglect for about two years (and it still flowers regularly!).

As a tropical orchid, this plant thrives in humid and warm conditions and is a prolific bloomer for a medium sized Ascocenda. For me, this plant does better under 60% light in moist humid condition (40% shade - leaves grow long and turn a dark green as it was growing in an orchid shade overgrown with giant sword ferns and covered with weeds from all sides!).  The plant would produce inflorescence with big flowers from every node even though it was not fertilised for almost 2 years in my old place.

When I moved to a high rise dwelling, this plant had smaller flowers despite more frequent fertilisation (every other week). Furthermore, the leaves are shorted under high light exposure (due to both the light and also the drier conditions) and looked rather stunted. It however, still does flower from every internode! So if  you want a relatively easy Ascocenda that can stand neglect and still make good of its presence, this is the one to get.

Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux on 19 Nov 2011, on a sunny and breezy balcony.

The parents for Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux are two quite 'well-known' orchids by their own right. Both Vanda Charles Goodfellow and Ascocenda Tubtim Velvet have many award winning clones.

Vanda Charles Goodfellow is quite variable, and some of the plants can have speckled petals, whilst others a plain. Some clones of V. Charles Goodfellow have very rounded (the petals and sepals appear to make a complete circle) but somewhat cupped feature e.g. V. Charles Goodfellow 'Lakeland'. If you look carefully at the lateral sepals of V. Charles Goodfellow (especially in the plain yellow form) it has a faint chartreuse tessellated markings on the inner half, a trait inherited from its Vanda (first Vanda, then Euanthe, now Vanda again...geez!) sanderiana 'ancestors'.

Ascocenda Tubtim Velvet too is a highly variable plant. You can even get a tetraploid (4n) version of this orchid. Most of them have a strong chartreuse inner lateral colouration, and typically the rest of the flower is white with faint pink tinge and some pinkish spots here and there. The inner, lateral sepal coloration is sometimes called a quarter (like marked with a chartreuse quarter) as the area corresponds to approximately a quarter of the whole bloom. Usually, this area also have highly visible tessellated markings. This tessellation and the quarter colouration on the inner, lateral sepals are the doings of V. sanderiana. Flowers are typically complete and flat, which is a good trait, though some poor clones can have petals that are small.

So the crossing of the two would give rise to multiple possible combinations. All are called Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux (the rules of orchid crossing and naming - crosses with different forms/varieties are the same, reciprocal crosses are considered the same, selfed seedlings are also treated the same). Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux was registered with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) International Orchid Register on 26 August, 1997 by R.F.Orchids.

A single bloom of  Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux showing the chartreuse coloured section that takes up about a quarter of the flower. If you look carefully, this quarter has stronger tessellated markings.

Species involved (not frequency):

Ascocentrum curvifolium

Vanda luzonica

Vanda tricolor

Vanda dearei

Vanda (Euanthe) sanderiana

Vanda denisoniana

Vanda coerulea

Below is the listing of the parents for Ascda. Vernon Kebodeaux. Note that this is NOT a family tree; once the grex has been described to the base (primary hybrid), it will not be repeated again for the female and male parent (caution, the list might make you crossed eyed!).

Crosses involved from the pod parent (female):
Ascda. Tubtim Velvet = Ascda. Jenny Donald x V. Kultana Gold
Ascda. Jenny Donald = V. Memoria Madame Pranerm x Ascda. Madame Kenny
Ascda. Madame Kenny = Ascda. Yip Sum Wah x V. Boonchoke
Ascda. Yip Sum Wah = V. Pukele x Ascocentrum curvifolium (s).
V. Kultana Gold = V. Pong Tong x V. Rasri
V. Pong Tong = V. Pikul x V. Ohuohu
V. Pikul = V. Faye x V. Waipuna
V. Faye = V. Boschii x V. Ellen Noa
V. Boschii = V. luzonica (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Memoria Madame Pranerm = V. Waipuna x V. Eisenhower
V. Waipuna = V. Ellen Noa x V. Rothschildiana
V. Ellen Noa = V. dearei (s) x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Boonchoke = V. Waimea x V. denisoniana (s)
V. Waimea = V. Ohuohu x V. Rothschildiana
V. Ohuohu = V. Clara Shipman Fisher x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Clara Shipman Fisher = V. sanderiana (s) x V. Tatzeri
V. Tatzeri = V. sanderiana (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Pukele = V. Betsy Sumner x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Betsy Sumner = V. Faustii x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Faustii = V. Gilbert Triboulet x V. luzonica (s)
V. Gilbert Triboulet = V. coerulea (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Rasri = V. Thananchai x V. Pranerm Ornete
V. Thananchai = V. Memoria Madame Pranerm x V. Tubtimtepya
V. Tubtimtepya = V. sanderiana (s) x V. Gertrude Miyamoto
V. Gertrude Miyamoto = V. Memoria G. Tanaka x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Memoria G. Tanaka = V. dearei (s) x V. Memoria T. Iwasaki
V. Memoria T. Iwasaki = V. dearei (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Eisenhower = V. Ellen Noa x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Rothschildiana = V. coerulea (s) x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Pranerm Ornete = V. Memoria Madame Pranerm x V. sanderiana (s)

Crosses involved from the pollen parent (male)
V. Charles Goodfellow = V. Rasri x V. Kultana Gold
V. Rasri = V. Thananchai x V. Pranerm Ornete
V. Thananchai = V. Memoria Madame Pranerm x V. Tubtimtepya
V. Memoria Madame Pranerm = V. Waipuna x V. Eisenhower
V. Waipuna = V. Ellen Noa x V. Rothschildiana
V. Ellen Noa = V. dearei (s) x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Pranerm Ornete = V. Memoria Madame Pranerm x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Tubtimtepya = V. sanderiana (s) x V. Gertrude Miyamoto
V. Gertrude Miyamoto = V. Memoria G. Tanaka x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Memoria G. Tanaka = V. dearei (s) x V. Memoria T. Iwasaki
V. Memoria T. Iwasaki = V. dearei (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Eisenhower = V. Ellen Noa x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Rothschildiana = V. coerulea (s) x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Kultana Gold = V. Pong Tong x V. Rasri
V. Pong Tong = V. Pikul x V. Ohuohu
V. Pikul = V. Faye x V. Waipuna
V. Faye = V. Boschii x V. Ellen Noa
V. Boschii = V. luzonica (s) x V. tricolor (s)
V. Ohuohu = V. Clara Shipman Fisher x V. sanderiana (s)
V. Clara Shipman Fisher = V. sanderiana (s) x V. Tatzeri
V. Tatzeri = V. sanderiana (s) x V. tricolor (s)

The yellow coloured Vanda ancestors of this cross derive their coloration mostly from V. dearei and also once from V. denisoniana. V. Ellen Noa, as one of the parents, is a 'weird' lemon-green yellow coloured flower painted with V. sanderiana purple-red spots and tessellations. One of the hybrids produced from this is V. Eisenhower, which looks like a flatter version and better toned version of V. Ellen Noa. It goes to show that the lemon yellow colour of V. dearei is very dominant (or at least co-dominantly displayed) in a cross.

An overlooked herb - the Kiangsi scallion (Allium chinense)

The Kiangsi or Chinese scallion, which is scientifically known as Allium chinense G. Don., is a vegetable that is not so commonly grown or used. The Chinese name for this chive-like relative of the onion is Jiào tóu 藠头 / 藠頭 or Kui tao (especially when sold as a 'head' of bulbs with all the leaves). This chive look-alike is known by several common names like Small angled chives, Kiangsi scallion, Chinese chives, Chinese onion, Kiangsi shallot or the Oriental scallion and has a few scientific name synonyms i.e. Allium bodinieri H. Léveillé & Vaniot, Allium bakeri Regel, or Allium martini H. Léveillé & Vaniot.

Allium chinense bulbs and trimmed leaves. These were the leftovers from a bunch purchased from TESCO Shah Alam that was used to make meatballs.

When referring to it as Chinese chives, one must be careful not to confuse it with the flat-leafed garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, that is also called Chinese chives (韭 菜 jiǔ cài). The Chinese scallion has leaves that are similar to Western chives (Allium schoenoprasum), but the cross section are not cylindrical as in chives. Instead, it is 3 to 4 angled. The colour of the leaves is also a lighter, brighter green instead of the bluish-green colour that is typical of chives. This scallion is known as rakkyo in Japan, especially when referring to the pickled bulbs that are flavoured with chilli, (らっきょう / 辣韮) the kanji literally means hot chives.

The cross section of Allium chinense leaves are angular as opposed to cylindrical in Western chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

How does it taste like?

It can be quite difficult to describe the flavour of the Chinese scallion. The leaves smell like spring onion, but it is lighter and there is an indescribable smell, which is somewhat onion-like but very mild. The raw white bulbs are more or less the same, with a strange ‘greenish’ taste over the onion-like overtones that some find repulsive. The pickled scallions are considered ‘cleaner’ in taste than pickled onions. The bulbs and leaves are used in certain Chinese cooking, mostly to mask or remove the gamey taste of meat or offal, thus making the meat dish more palatable. A note on the use of this scallion, do not underestimate the strength of this bulb, for example, in making meatballs – use too much and you will end up eating meatballs that taste like eating the scallions as they can be very effective in masking the gamey smell. Once you have eaten and been acquainted with the taste of this scallion, you should be able to easily pick up the presence of this scallion in food the next time.

Where to get them?
If you are looking for this scallion in Malaysia, I believe they are available in Cameron Highlands. I can occasionally find it in TESCO’s around Klang Valley. In fact, the ones that I have are planted from a bunch that was marked down at TESCO Shah Alam.

Growing them

If you have left over bulbs that were not used, simply plant them in soil (any soil with adequate drainage will do). The clump will slowly multiply, plus you can harvest the leaves by shearing them off and using it like chives or spring onion. Once you have enough bulbs, you can even make rakkyo from your home grown bulbs. As long as there is adequate moisture and sunlight, the Chinese scallions will grow like weeds. Not particularly fussy about soil type (harder soil = smaller bulbs), this evergreen bulb is next to impossible to kill, even in our humid tropical weather.

Reference:

Mann, L. K. and Stearn, W. T. (1960). Rakkyo or Ch'iao T'ou (Allium chinense G. Don, syn. A. bakeri Regel) a Little Known Vegetable Crop. Economic Botany, 14(1), 69-83.