Leaf number and width can support a cymbidium comparison, but they should not replace a reliable botanical name. Plants of different ages and conditions can make a simple rule less clear than a labelled illustration suggests.
Record the whole plant and representative leaves. Include the label and the source of the plant, if known.
Add the flowers when available
Photograph an open flower and the full flower stem, and note the local date. A flowering month is useful context, not an independent guarantee of identity across every climate.
If comparing Cymbidium faberi with chunlan or another named type, use a reliable reference and more than one feature. Keep a record of uncertainty instead of promoting a tentative guess into a permanent label.
Do not switch to a very different winter or potting routine solely because one leaf count seemed to match. Confirm the plant as well as you can before changing its care. If expert identification is needed, a consistent set of photographs and nursery information gives the enquiry a much better starting point than one detached leaf.
Flora of China’s Cymbidium treatment gives overlapping leaf counts for C. faberi and C. goeringii, while also describing their inflorescences and floral structures. That overlap is a concrete reason not to identify either species from leaf count alone.
Related reading: Cymbidium Faberi vs Chunlan: Leaves and Flowers.