Chinese Orchids have slender, elegant, sword-shaped leaves that are quite lovely to look at in themselves, but rather small blossoms, which are mostly white, peach, or pale green in color. Foreign orchids generally have broader, thicker leaves, with gorgeously colored blossoms, for which they are renowned.
而國蘭品種較為一般人熟知的有報歲、素心、九華、春蘭等。大體說來，國蘭的葉形較纖細秀逸、長狹如劍，頗有可觀，花朵較小，多半是白、桃、白綠色；洋蘭葉片較寬厚碩大，花朵豔麗多採，最是出色。