The painting is undated but was probably painted in the 1750s. The orchid is one of the "Four Gentlemen" (orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and plum), a theme favored by literati scholar-painters since the Sung dynasty in China. According to Taiga scholar Melinda Takeuchi, "the calculated range of ink tonalities and textures, the lines executed with unevenly saturated brush held at a slant, and the bravura of the impossibly elongated composition are hallmarks of Taiga's style." The inscription, a Chinese quatrain, is by Taiga's older contemporary, the Confucian scholar Emura Hokkai:

Green leaves, purple stems, pure, pure flowers
A mysterious figure embraces the rock, the place is covered with moss and sand,
The recluse touches his brush and transmits the sublime
Sitting in wonder as the fragrance spreads over the paper.