Textures

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Female Orchid Classification System

There is high degree of variability in the skin textures of orchids, specifically on the sheath and labia. We must primarily rely on the richness of the English language to describe the skin texture of most orchids. There are, however, some of the more common texture types that can be generalized, named and illustrated in the following section.

Natural Skin

For completeness, the most common natural skin texture of orchids is included below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smooth Skin

A variation on skin texture is very smooth skin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mottled Skin

Slightly bumpy skin texture is described as mottled skin texture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meandering Interwinds

One common skin texture that does not seem to have a specific description in the English language is the skin texture common to labia. In FOCS, it is designated as meandering interwinds (rhymes with inter-twines) to best describe this skin texture. Examples illustrated below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shar-Pei

Another area where the English language is short on descriptors is for rugosity, meaning full of wrinkles. Generally in western society, wrinkles of any sort have a negative connotation. In FOCS, deeply wrinkled orchids are designated with a skin texture of shar-pei. This is named after the Chinese breed of dogs where Shar-Pei puppies with the most wrinkles are the most prized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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