any of various plants of the genus Cymbidium having narrow leaves and a long drooping cluster of numerous showy and variously colored boat-shaped flowers; extensively hybridized and cultivated as houseplants and important florists' flowers

There are two basic types of Cymbidiums: standard and miniature. Generally, the miniatures bear smaller, but more flowers than the standards and bloom somewhat earlier. Most miniatures bloom from November through March, while standards bloom from late December through May. Cymbidiums are basically cool-growing orchids, and best grown outdoors or in cool greenhouses.

Cymbidium Swartz 1799, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae, subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Cyrtopodiinae.