Finally the heat of summer has begun and Cymbidium aloifolium is bursting into bloom. This plant was first recorded as Kansjiram Maravara by Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein, the then Dutch Governer of Cochin in his Hortus Malabaricus which is a treatise on the medicinal plants found in the Malabar region of India which was the hub of the spice trade in those days. The plant was thus named because it was found growing on a Kansjiram tree (Strychnos nuxvomica). Maravara which is a corruption of Maravazha refers to orchids in general. This plant has leathery belt shaped leaves measuring between 25 and 60 cm long and about 3 cm wide. It blooms during the month of April with pendulous racemes carrying around 10 to 30 flowers which last for about a week. The flowers have a very faint musty smell to them.
Please note that this is the same plant referred to as Cymbidium bicolor in Du Puy & Cribb's 'The Genus Cymbidium'.
