Terms and Explanations

A glossary of the words, codes and abbreviations used on our listings. Orchidmart Inc. — Last updated 16 August 2026.

1. Our Role & How Plants Arrive

Importer

This is what we are. Orchidmart Inc. sources plants from licensed growers overseas, arranges export documentation and phytosanitary certification, clears them through Canadian customs and CFIA inspection, inspects them on arrival, and forwards them to you.

We are not a grower. We do not raise plants from seed or flask, and we do not hold a greenhouse of established stock. What we provide is access — to material that is not otherwise available in Canada — and the import work that gets it here legally and in good condition.

This distinction runs through everything else on this page. A grower can describe a plant they raised themselves under known conditions. An importer describes what the exporting nursery supplied, and what our own inspection found on arrival.

Supplier / Exporter / Grower

These three words all refer to the nursery we buy from, and we use them interchangeably.

These are established, licensed nurseries abroad with whom we hold ongoing relationships. They grow the plants, select and prepare them against our order, and handle export certification in their own country. Product photographs, size estimates and variety names originate with them.

You will often see a supplier identified in the campaign label — for example `[TSG Preorder 26]`, where TSG is the nursery.

CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the federal authority that regulates plant imports into Canada.

Every shipment we bring in is inspected and must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country. The CFIA may inspect, hold, treat, refuse or destroy plants at the border. This is the legal framework that makes the next term necessary.

Bare-rooted (Bare-root)

Plants supplied without a pot or growing medium, with roots cleaned and trimmed.

This is not a choice — it is a legal requirement. The CFIA does not permit soil or growing medium to enter Canada with imported plants. Every plant we import arrives bare-rooted, without exception.

A plant remains bare-rooted until it is established. If we pot a newly arrived plant so that it holds or travels better, the pot does not change what it is. A temporarily potted plant that has not yet rooted into its medium and resumed active growth is still bare-rooted, and is sold and graded as one.

Bare-rooted plants have lost most of their working root system and are re-establishing. Expect reduced or dry roots, some loss of lower leaves, and a period with no visible growth. They are for growers with the experience to bring them back — see the grades in §5.

Rooted

The opposite of bare-rooted: a plant that is established.

After each import we retain a portion of the stock, pot it, and grow it on under lights on our own shelves. We relist a plant as Rooted only once it shows clear signs of active growth — new roots into the medium, new leaves, or new growths.

A Rooted plant ships with its pot and medium, has a working root system, and does not need re-establishing. These are our most beginner-friendly items, and no bare-root discount applies to them.

Some older listings describe these as "Local Growing". That term has been retired — it means the same thing as Rooted.

2. How to Read a Product Listing

Our titles are compact because they carry a lot of information. Here is a real one, taken apart:

`[Bare-root][Import AS-IS] #CY# Cym. ensifolium Qing Shan Yu Quan 建蘭青山玉泉 [BS 3 Grs][TSG Preorder 26]`

Rule of thumb: square brackets `[ ]` tell you how it is sold and how big it is; the `#XX#` code is for sorting only; the plain text between them is the plant's name.

Below the title, every listing carries a specification card with these fields:

3. Availability

Every listing carries one of three availability labels. This is the single most important thing to check before ordering, because it determines when — and whether — you receive the plant.

Preorder

Not in stock. We collect orders first, then import against them.

Nothing is reserved when you order; the plants are still overseas and have not been harvested or packed. We gather orders during an open window, close it on a published cut-off date, then place one consolidated order with the nursery.

Preorders are discounted because you accept a longer wait and the ordinary risks of import.

There are two kinds, and the label tells you which:

Timing differs by campaign — always check the campaign page for its cut-off and arrival window.

⚠️ The cut-off date is binding. Before it, you may cancel for a full refund. After it we have paid the nursery, and the order cannot be cancelled or refunded. See the Return and Refund Policy §7.

In Stock

Physically here and ready to ship, normally dispatched within 2–4 business days.

These come from previous imports. Quantities are limited — often a single plant — and once sold they are gone unless the variety appears in a later campaign. Some may show minor imperfections from their time in transit and re-establishment; the grade on each listing tells you what to expect.

Labelled by the month they landed: `[Aug in stock 26]`, `[Jun in stock 26]`.

Wishlist

Not for sale — a list of what our suppliers can offer.

These are varieties we can source but have no immediate plan to import. You cannot order a Wishlist item. They are published so you can tell us what you want: if enough interest gathers around a variety, we open a preorder for it in a future campaign.

Campaign status

Once a preorder campaign closes, its collection is marked with its progress:

4. Import AS-IS

Import AS-IS

The plant is sold in the condition it arrives in from the exporting nursery.

This label appears on every imported plant, and it is not a disclaimer we add out of caution — it describes something real. A plant that has been lifted, root-washed, root-trimmed, inspected, certified, boxed, flown across the Pacific, cleared through customs and inspected again arrives stressed. No amount of care at either end prevents that.

On an AS-IS plant, the following are normal and expected, and are not defects:

• dry, reduced or trimmed roots
• loss of lower or older leaves
• dehydration, wrinkling or yellowing of leaves and pseudobulbs
• fold marks, creases or broken leaf tips from packing
• broken or damaged flower spikes
• a period of weeks or months with no visible new growth
• greater susceptibility to fungal or bacterial problems while stressed

What AS-IS does not mean. It does not mean unsorted, unchecked, or sold blind. Every plant is inspected by us after it lands and before it is dispatched, and anything falling outside our standard is pulled and refunded rather than sent (see §5).

⚠️ By buying an AS-IS plant you are taking on the work of re-establishing it. These plants are for growers with the experience to do that. If you would prefer a plant that is already established and growing, look for Rooted items (§1).

Not in Spike

The plant will not arrive in bud or flower, and we make no promise about flowers.

Flowers and spikes travel badly. A spike that survives packing often collapses in transit, and a plant that blooms during shipping usually declines afterwards because it spent its reserves on the flower rather than on recovery.

If a plant happens to be in spike when it ships, it goes as it is — but spike and flower condition on arrival are never guaranteed, and items marked Not in Spike are not held to any flower standard at all.

Flowering time. An imported plant will usually skip a blooming cycle while it re-establishes. Expect to wait a season, sometimes two, before it flowers for you.

5. Quality Grades & Root Condition

Two separate scales appear on our listings, and they answer different questions.

Grade A / B / C — difficulty and price

The discount is not a markdown on a lesser plant — it is the difference between buying a plant that is ready to grow and buying one that you will bring back yourself. You are being paid for the work.

BR-1 to BR-5 — root condition on arrival

How much root a bare-root plant keeps depends on the genus, not on our handling. Some genera travel with their roots largely intact; others must be cut back hard and will rebuild from nothing.

What to expect by genus:

⚠️ A BR-4 plant is not a damaged plant. For a Cattleya, arriving with no live roots is normal and expected — that genus rebuilds its root system from the new growth each season. Judging a Cattleya by Cymbidium standards is the most common misunderstanding we see.

How the two scales fit together

A plant can be Grade C, BR-1 (bare-root but arriving with good roots — a Cymbidium preorder) or Grade C, BR-4 (bare-root and rootless — a Cattleya preorder). Both are correctly described and both meet our standard; the second simply asks more of you.

Grade tells you the price and the skill required. BR tells you what you are unpacking.

6. Size & Maturity

How size is written

A size label looks like `[2.4 BS]` or `[BS 3 Grs]`. It combines up to three pieces of information:

Where no pot size is shown — for example `[BS 3 Grs]` — the supplier did not provide that figure. These are usually around 2.4″, but we do not state a number we were not given.

Maturity abbreviations

⚠️ Maturity is not a promise of flowers. A BS plant is one that has reached flowering size, not one that will flower for you this season. An imported plant usually skips a cycle while it re-establishes (§4).

Grs — growths

A growth is one complete unit of the plant: a cane on a Dendrobium, a pseudobulb and its leaf on a Cattleya, a fan on a Neofinetia, a leafed shoot on a Cymbidium.

More growths means a larger, more established plant with more reserves — and usually a higher price. `3 Grs` is a plant with three.

Est. — estimated

`Est.` means this is our assessment, not a measurement.

We size and grade plants from the photographs and information the supplier sends us, before the plants exist in our hands. We cannot verify size until the shipment lands. When we write `⚠️ Est. Blooming Size`, we are telling you: based on what we have been shown, we believe this is a mature plant.

Judgements of maturity vary between growers, and customers sometimes reach a different conclusion from ours about the same plant. That is a genuine difference of opinion, not an error by either side.

This is why every listing carries a size reference photograph. Look at it and form your own view before ordering — you may read the plant differently than we do, and your judgement about what suits you is the one that matters.

Size reference photographs

The reference photo shows a typical plant from the batch, not the plant you will receive. Plants in a batch are broadly similar in size, but they are individuals.

You receive the exact plant shown only where a listing states it is a one-of-a-kind item.

Grow Habit

The temperature range the species prefers — a guide to where in your home or greenhouse the plant belongs, not a hardiness rating.

• Cool grower — prefers cooler conditions with a distinct winter drop.
• Intermediate grower — the middle range; suits most indoor growing.
• Warm grower — prefers consistent warmth with no cold period.

None of our plants are frost-hardy unless a listing says so explicitly.

7. Type & Propagation

This section answers one question: will this plant look like the photograph?

Species / Hybrid

Species — a plant that occurs in the wild, written as genus plus species: Cym. ensifolium, Phal. philippinensis. Its Native Origin tells you the conditions it evolved in.

Hybrid — a cross between two or more parents, given a registered name in plain text: Rlc. Chia Lin, Gom. Jiaho Queen. Hybrids are usually more forgiving to grow than the species behind them.

How it was propagated — and whether it comes true

This is the part that decides whether your plant matches the photograph.

⚠️ If you need the exact plant in the photograph, buy a Division, TC or MC. These are always labelled. Anything grown from seed is its own individual, and the photograph shows what the cross can produce at its best — not what yours will do.

⚠️ Peloric Phalaenopsis — the trait can revert

Peloric and semi-peloric Phalaenopsis — sold as peloric, 3-lip, or big lip — carry petals that develop lip-like colour and texture. It is one of the most sought-after traits in the genus, and it is also one of the least stable.

The same plant can bloom peloric one year and ordinary the next. The degree of peloric expression varies with the plant's maturity, temperature, light and how well it is established — and an imported plant that has just been through transit and re-establishment is the most likely of all to bloom plain on its first cycle with you.

This is a known and normal characteristic of peloric Phalaenopsis, not a mislabelled plant. A peloric plant that blooms ordinary has not been sold to you incorrectly, and is not covered as an identification error. If it flowers plain, let it settle and grow on — the trait often returns as the plant strengthens.

Heavy spotting and unusual patterning are unstable in the same way, and often revert toward the ordinary form of the species.

If you want a guaranteed peloric bloom every season, this trait cannot give you that. No supplier can.

Names in single quotes

A name in single quotes is a cultivar — one specific individual plant that was selected, named, and then propagated by division or cloning.

C. lueddemanniana f. coerulea 'Ten Shin Perfection'

A cultivar name is only meaningful on a division or clone. On a seed-grown plant it refers to a parent, not to what you will receive.

f. and var.

f. (forma) marks a colour or form variant within a species — f. coerulea (blue), f. alba (white), f. dayana.

var. (variety) marks a naturally occurring regional variant.

variegata / 出藝

Variegated foliage — stable patterning in the leaves, usually a premium trait. Variegation can weaken or be lost if the plant is grown too dark or too fast.

Chinese and Japanese cultivar names

Chinese Cymbidium and Japanese Neofinetia are traded under their traditional names, which we give in both romanised and original form:

Cym. goeringii Song Mei 春蘭宋梅

These are historic named cultivars, propagated by division for generations. They come true, and the traditional name is the identity of the plant.

Award codes

AM/AOS, HCC/AOS, FCC/AOS — an award granted by the American Orchid Society to a specific plant that was exhibited and judged.

The award belongs to that individual clone. It travels with divisions and clones of it, and it tells you the clone is of exhibition quality — but it is not a promise that your plant will flower to award standard, which depends on maturity and on how it is grown.

8. Alliance Codes

The `#XX#` code near the start of a title is a sorting label, nothing more. It groups related genera so that similar plants sit together when you browse or search. It says nothing about quality, price or condition.

If you are searching for something specific, search the plant name rather than the code — the codes exist to organise the catalogue, not to find things.

9. Photographs & Fragrance

Shop photographs

Supplied by the nursery, for reference only.

Nursery photographs show the variety at its best, under that grower's conditions, often on a mature well-established plant. They are the most accurate images available to us, but they are not photographs of your plant and we are not able to verify every one.

We encourage you to look the variety up independently before ordering. Cross-checking against other sources will give you a fairer picture of the range a variety can produce than any single image can.

Whether your plant will match the photograph depends on how it was propagated — see §7.

Fragrance

Fragrance notes come from our own research or from the supplier's description.

Scent varies — between individual plants, with temperature, humidity and light, with the age of the flower, and with time of day. Many orchids are strongly scented only in the morning, or only in the evening.

Treat the fragrance note as a general guide. A plant that flowers with less scent than described has not been mis-sold, and fragrance is not a specification we are able to guarantee.

10. Where the Rules Live

This page is a glossary. It explains the words on our listings so you know what you are buying. It does not set out your rights.

Everything to do with guarantees, claims, returns, refunds, shipping, preorder cut-offs and cold-season requirements is in one place:

→ Return and Refund Policy

A few things worth knowing before you order:

• Live plants are final sale. Our Live Arrival Guarantee covers condition on arrival.
• Claims must reach us within 24 hours of the recorded delivery time, with clear images.
• Preorders cannot be cancelled once the cut-off date has passed.
• Cold-season shipments require winter shipping protection and a heat pack.

All claims and questions: [info@orchidmart.ca](mailto:info@orchidmart.ca)

By placing an order you confirm that you have read and accepted both this page and the Return and Refund Policy.

Questions: info@orchidmart.ca
Orchidmart Inc. · Richmond Hill, Ontario