# What steals your heart because of its leaves?



## Carkin (Dec 11, 2014)

Which Paph do you think has the most beautiful leaves? It doesn't matter if it's a species or hybrid. Pictures would be nice too.


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 11, 2014)

From your post title, I was going to answer Macodes petola.
For paph, delnatii var. dunkel (with the dark purple edging and veining)


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## Justin (Dec 11, 2014)

vietnamense 
malipoense
Woluwense


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## NYEric (Dec 11, 2014)

There was a thread a while ago about. "post your leaves or foliage, or something". Lots of good stuff there.
Magic Lantern, venustum or wardii hybrids, superbiens v. curtsii...


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## Carkin (Dec 11, 2014)

Thanks guys! I love those too. 

Eric, I forgot about that thread. Thanks for reminding me, I will have to look at it again.


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## The Mutant (Dec 11, 2014)

Delenatii var. dunkel
Malipoense (these two are the only toilet Paphs I own, and in the case of the malipoense, it's only because of its foliage; the delenatii has a perfectly fine flower...for a toilet :wink: )
Venustum
Wardii

Honorable mentions:
Callosum var. sublaeve (at least the leaves on mine)
Hainanense


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## troy (Dec 11, 2014)

Phillipinense var leavigateum!!!!!


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## troy (Dec 11, 2014)

I have a bellatulum with iridescent grey purple mottled leaves


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## troy (Dec 11, 2014)

Iridescent - mettallic


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## mrhappyrotter (Dec 11, 2014)

Although it's been said many times, many ways, malipoense. Malipoense to you.

But seriously, amongst the parvies, which is a group well-known for beautiful foliage, malipoense is simply the best. Not only do you get the classic tessellation with amongst the most extreme contrast between light and dark spots of the slippers, you also get large leaves with wavy, oscillating edges. Then, as if all of that wasn't enough, nature decided this species absolutely needs lovely dark mahogany, densely spotted undersides on the leaves. In fact, I'd venture to say that Paph. malipoense has some of the most beautiful foliage in all the plant world.

Another favorite, for many of the same reasons would be a very good clone of Paph. liemianum. The variegation is normally much less noticeable, but many clones do have slight variegated leaves. The leaves usually have wonderfully undulated edges, and of course, the undersides of the leaves are spotted with a lovely dark, mahogany coloration. It's like a less extreme version of Paph. malipoense translated into a cochlopetalum.

Next on the list, and I know this doesn't qualify since it's not a paph, is anything with grassy foliage. So, if we extend the question to slippers as a whole (and I believe we should since this is Slippertalk not Paphtalk), then I'd have to nominate Phrag. pearcei and close relatives, plus their hybrids. They produce the most lovely dark green, grass-like foliage. They look like miniature day lilies (until they bloom of course).


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## Clark (Dec 11, 2014)

Delenatii var. dunkel, by a kilometer.


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## Carkin (Dec 11, 2014)

Great stuff, thanks! 

Mrhappyrotter, I do adore malipoense but have been a little intimidated by it! So, I've just got a few hybrids of malipoense for now.
I never really thought of liemianum for their leaves before, interesting.
Of course you can add Phrags to the list...I am just thinking of my next Paph purchase and that is why I asked specifically about Paphs.


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## Carkin (Dec 11, 2014)

troy said:


> I have a bellatulum with iridescent grey purple mottled leaves




That sounds beautiful!


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## Carkin (Dec 11, 2014)

The Mutant said:


> Delenatii var. dunkel
> 
> Malipoense (these two are the only toilet Paphs I own, and in the case of the malipoense, it's only because of its foliage; the delenatii has a perfectly fine flower...for a toilet :wink: )
> 
> ...




I think I have the same taste as you...except that "toilet Paphs" have REALLY grown on me, now I am a little obsessed with them!


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## abax (Dec 12, 2014)

All Brachy...every single one. I'm particularly entranced by hainanensis.


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## paphioboy (Dec 12, 2014)

Barbata section species: Lawrenceanum, dayanum, superbiens, some clones of callosum/barbatum. Well grown plants have large, glossy leaves which are just gorgeous to me..


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## Bjorn (Dec 12, 2014)

Nothing ever beats a good vietnamense with its glossy leaves. Unfortunaty, mine turns dull due to all the stuff I spray onto them; but, they can be superb.
There is also something with well-grown emersoniis and hangianums, but hat may be attributed to other things than the looks


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## Parryaw (Dec 12, 2014)

My bellatulums had beautiful leaves, till they were scorched!


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## polyantha (Dec 12, 2014)

I'd love to get my hands on this variegated Paph. adductum:
Paph. adductum 'Albo Variegatum'


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## The Mutant (Dec 12, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Great stuff, thanks!
> 
> Mrhappyrotter, I do adore malipoense but have been a little intimidated by it! So, I've just got a few hybrids of malipoense for now.
> I never really thought of liemianum for their leaves before, interesting.
> ...


Intimidated by malipoense? Why? I have one and it's a really good grower, albeit a slow one. I just read how they're supposed to be taken care of and... *coughs* let's just say that I don't treat mine like you're supposed to, and it seems to be working out fine. 

Just as I have become obsessed with multis, then? To each their own. :wink: 



abax said:


> All Brachy...every single one. I'm particularly entranced by hainanensis.


Actually, I must agree; Parvis, with the exception of hangianum and emersonii, and Brachys all have seriously gorgeous foliage.


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## Carkin (Dec 12, 2014)

The Mutant said:


> Intimidated by malipoense? Why? I have one and it's a really good grower, albeit a slow one. I just read how they're supposed to be taken care of and... *coughs* let's just say that I don't treat mine like you're supposed to, and it seems to be working out fine.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That's good to know! I was under the impression they were difficult. Maybe I will get a malipoense now. 
I just got my first multi this summer, and I'm definitely wanting more! I'm getting good ideas from your "easy" multi thread.


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## The Mutant (Dec 12, 2014)

Carkin said:


> That's good to know! I was under the impression they were difficult. Maybe I will get a malipoense now.
> I just got my first multi this summer, and I'm definitely wanting more! I'm getting good ideas from your "easy" multi thread.


I really can't see any reason why you shouldn't and I'm always happy to help spreading the hoarding virus around. :evil:


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## Carkin (Dec 12, 2014)

The Mutant said:


> I really can't see any reason why you shouldn't and I'm always happy to help spreading the hoarding virus around. :evil:




Lol! Okay, I'll blame it on you then.


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## The Mutant (Dec 12, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Lol! Okay, I'll blame it on you then.


Correction! Apparently I grow my malipoense in intermediate temperatures. Something went wrong in my conversion between Fahrenheit to Celsius, sorry about that.


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## Carkin (Dec 12, 2014)

The Mutant said:


> Correction! Apparently I grow my malipoense in intermediate temperatures. Something went wrong in my conversion between Fahrenheit to Celsius, sorry about that.




Okay, thanks for that clarification. Btw, I was just teasing about blaming you...although I am always looking for fresh excuses to tell my husband as to why I've got another orchid!
I do have a primary hybrid that (judging from the leaves) takes more from the malipoense side, and it's doing really well. So that gives me more hope that I can handle a malipoense too.


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## The Mutant (Dec 12, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Okay, thanks for that clarification. Btw, I was just teasing about blaming you...although I am always looking for fresh excuses to tell my husband as to why I've got another orchid!
> I do have a primary hybrid that (judging from the leaves) takes more from the malipoense side, and it's doing really well. So that gives me more hope that I can handle a malipoense too.


Haha! You can continue blaming me, I can take it. It's okay since I blame all of Slippertalk for enabling my hoarding. I'm just a victim to peer pressure after all, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :rollhappy:


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## NYEric (Dec 12, 2014)

here, I found this.
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28775&highlight=foliage


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## Carkin (Dec 12, 2014)

Thank you Eric!


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## PaphMadMan (Dec 12, 2014)

Has no one mentioned concolor specifically? The clear standout among the Brachys as far as I'm concerned. A good one is like a tiny endless abstract landscape painting.


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## Carkin (Dec 12, 2014)

PaphMadMan said:


> Has no one mentioned concolor specifically? The clear standout among the Brachys as far as I'm concerned. A good one is like a tiny endless abstract landscape painting.




I will have to look more closely at a concolor...I love that description!


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## troy (Dec 12, 2014)

I agree!! A healthy concolor has awesome foliage a mottled greyish blue green, they are easy to grow although grow a little brighter


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## mrhappyrotter (Dec 12, 2014)

Carkin said:


> Okay, thanks for that clarification. Btw, I was just teasing about blaming you...although I am always looking for fresh excuses to tell my husband as to why I've got another orchid!
> I do have a primary hybrid that (judging from the leaves) takes more from the malipoense side, and it's doing really well. So that gives me more hope that I can handle a malipoense too.



Paph. malipoense is probably my favorite species, or pretty close, but its one of those species that I have a hard time growing -- I simply haven't figured it out yet but I will keep trying until I get things right. Mali hybrids seem to do quite well for me, though.


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## Scott Ware (Dec 12, 2014)

There are so many paphs with gorgeous foliage. Some I really love include _Paph._ Ho Chi Minh, _Paph. concolor_, and of course _Paph. delenatii fma vinicolor_. 

The most beautiful foliage I have ever seen on ANY orchid was a large, multiple growth plant of _Paph. hookerae_ that Chris Ellis had in his greenhouse at Hoodview Orchids sometime around 1988. I've never seen more stunning foliage since. The plant was a monster compared to any other _Paph. hookerae_ I've ever seen, bearing a bold and brilliant perfectly tessellated geometric pattern of many shades ranging from dark green to almost white with a rich texture of smooth velvet. Of the thousands of plants I have seen in the years since, this one stands out the most because of that foliage.


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## cnycharles (Dec 12, 2014)

Sorry to be the white sheep, but Goodyear repens 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The Mutant (Dec 13, 2014)

PaphMadMan said:


> Has no one mentioned concolor specifically? The clear standout among the Brachys as far as I'm concerned. A good one is like a tiny endless abstract landscape painting.


Concolor has a very gorgeous foliage. I don't like the Brachys, but they do know their way around producing astonishing foliage. 



Scott Ware said:


> There are so many paphs with gorgeous foliage. Some I really love include _Paph._ Ho Chi Minh, _Paph. concolor_, and of course _Paph. delenatii fma vinicolor_.
> 
> The most beautiful foliage I have ever seen on ANY orchid was a large, multiple growth plant of _Paph. hookerae_ that Chris Ellis had in his greenhouse at Hoodview Orchids sometime around 1988. I've never seen more stunning foliage since. The plant was a monster compared to any other _Paph. hookerae_ I've ever seen, bearing a bold and brilliant perfectly tessellated geometric pattern of many shades ranging from dark green to almost white with a rich texture of smooth velvet. Of the thousands of plants I have seen in the years since, this one stands out the most because of that foliage.


Wait, what? Hookerae? This is a sigmatopetalum Paph, right? Why on earth don't I have this one? It's gorgeous! Maybe it's hard to get a hold of here in Europe? I can tell Elsner has had it and Popow has it, and it was/is expensive. Is it difficult to grow? I've noticed that some of those more difficult Paphs seem to be more expensive than the easier ones.


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## Marco (May 10, 2015)

Molted leaf Phals (stuartiana and philippinensis)

Variegation especially when the bordering on yellow/green is crisp and clean (Phal aphrodite/ambalis and variegated neos)

Update : i posted the above based on thread title only and before reading the first post. I didn't realize that this is supposed to be for paphs only....oops.


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## NYEric (May 10, 2015)

Someone on this forum, not me, has a variegated leaf multi!


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## Marco (May 10, 2015)

NYEric said:


> Someone on this forum, not me, has a variegated leaf multi!



Thread link?

oke:


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## cnycharles (May 12, 2015)

Goodyera repens var ophioglossoides


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## NYEric (May 14, 2015)

Marco said:


> Thread link?
> 
> oke:



It has not been shared with th emasses!


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## Justin (May 14, 2015)

i bought a flask of malipoense pretty much solely for the leaves. it is growing very well.

I'm about 99% convinced to order a flask of Woluwense, which i also love for the leaves but am hopeful flowers will be easier on the newer generation and with a nivium pod parent.


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