# godefroyae/leucochilum



## John M (Jun 16, 2014)

What is the difference between Paph. godefroyae and Paph. leucochilum? 

I always thought that godefroyae has speckles on the pouch and leucochilum has a perfectly clear, unmarked pouch. Otherwise, they look the same. Any opinions?


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## SlipperFan (Jun 16, 2014)

According to Braem et al:
“ETYMOLOGY
Named godefroyae in honour of Mrs. Godefroy-Lebeuf.
DESCRIPTION
Paphiopedilum godefroyae is a small plant, about 15 cm tall. It is an herbaceous perennial that usually grows in leafy debris on the top of limestone rocks. The leaves are linear-oblong and measure up to 18 cm long by about 4 cm wide. They are deep green, more or less tessellate with pale green above, and densely spotted with deep purple on the underside. The inflorescence is 3 to 10 cm long, pale green spotted with purple, thickly and evenly covered with short, more or less appressed, matted hairs. It carries one or two flowers. The bract is about 1/3 the length of the ovary. Flowers are 5 to 7 cm across, white to pale yellow, spotted with magenta-purple, and obscurely pubescent. The dorsal sepal is broadly ovate to sub-orbicular, up to 2.5 cm long by about 3 cm across, and keeled on the back. The much smaller synsepalum is elliptic-oblong and about 2 cm long. Petals are elliptic-oblong, broad and reflexed as in P. concolor, and are up to 3.5 cm long by about 3 cm wide. The lip is sub-cylindrical[…]”

“FLOWERING
Plants of P. godefroyae have been reported to bloom nearly all year round. The main flowering season, however, is from June through September.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
The chromosome count is 2n = 26 as published by Kamemoto et al. in 1963.
VARIETIES AND FORMS

Paphiopedilum godefroyae var. leucochilum (Rolfe) Hallier fil.
in Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, 14: 18-52 (1897)
SYNONYMS
Cypripedium godefroyae var. leucochilum Rolfe
in The Orchid Review, 2: 145-146 (1894 [May issue]); and Masters in The Gardeners’ Chronicle, 3rd series, 15(389): 717 (1894 [June 9th])
Paphiopedilum leucochilum (Rolfe) Fowlie
in Orchid Digest, 39(3): 110-118 (1975)
This variety is probably best understood with the help of text from the Masters publication (loc. cit.): “A flower of this handsome and distinct variety is sent by R. I. Measures, Esq., of Camberwell, with the remark that its sepals and petals, in their broadly ovate form and rich maroon-purple markings, resemble more nearly C. bellatulum. It indeed goes to prove that it is a very fine line of demarcation which separates some extreme forms of these species. But in the present case the clear creamy-white unspotted face of the labellum is a characteristic[…]”

Excerpt From: Braem. “Paphiopedilum.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=549DA8592DC469C6E2C3350BC520A9A0


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## NYEric (Jun 16, 2014)

translation: white pouch!


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## John M (Jun 16, 2014)

THANK YOU, Dot!.....and Eric. So, it seems that what I've understood to be the main feature separating the two is in fact, the clear, unmarked pouch of leucochilum vs. speckles and spotting on the pouch of godefroyae.


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## NYEric (Jun 17, 2014)

correct.


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