# Paphiopedilum hookerae



## jokerpass (Apr 25, 2020)

Paphiopedilum hookerae (Mallingham HCC x Joanid)

Paphiopedium hookerae is a very rare orchid to find in cultivation. It is a slow growing Paph. It took me more than 10 years to find it in Canada and I finally found it from Flora Peculia in Toronto last year (2019 Spring). This is its first bloom. The flower spike is 30cm tall only which is on the short side for a Paph. hookerae.


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## DrLeslieEe (Apr 25, 2020)

Beautiful pink round paddles!


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## Djthomp28 (Apr 25, 2020)

It is other worldly. Spectacular petals.


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## Guldal (Apr 26, 2020)

Quelle beauté!


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## dodidoki (Apr 27, 2020)

Very nice hookerae.Congrats on blooming!


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## Ozpaph (Apr 27, 2020)

a very good one. What's on the leaves????


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## GuRu (Apr 27, 2020)

Another lovely P. hookerae. Very elegant flower.


Ozpaph said:


> a very good one. What's on the leaves????



That would be my question too. What happened with the foliage at the 4. photo. Is it natural or just an artefact of the photo?


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## BrucherT (Apr 27, 2020)

Spellbinding flower...concerned about the leaves....


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## jokerpass (Apr 27, 2020)

There is nothing wrong with the leaves. They are cinnamon powder, they are cat deterrent. The cats eat orchid leaves if I don't put them after each watering. I put cinammon powder on all my orchids except cattleya. The cats don't eat cattleya leaves because they are hard. They just use them as a scratching post sometimes, but they don't harm the cattleya orchids in general.


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## SuperPaph (Apr 27, 2020)

Awesome!!!


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## dodidoki (Apr 28, 2020)

Cats...grrrrr....I have just troubles with them.....one uses my cyp bed as lavatory....protection against cats:


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## Don I (Apr 28, 2020)

Very nice.
Don


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## SlipperKing (Apr 28, 2020)

Again nice flower but no upper notch to the staminode. I don't believe it to be pure hookerae. I'm sure I will have the same issue with the two I have and are about to open.


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## jokerpass (Apr 28, 2020)

There is a big notch at the bottom of the staminode, is that what you mean?
Paph hookerae and Paph volonteanum look so similar especially there is so much breeding. I know that Paph volonteanum is a colder grower than Paph hookerae. I grow Paph hookerae warm all year around.


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## jokerpass (Apr 28, 2020)

There is a big notch at the bottom of the staminode, is that what you mean?
Paph hookerae and Paph volonteanum look so similar especially there is so much breeding. I know that Paph volonteanum is a colder grower than Paph hookerae. I grow Paph hookerae warm all year around.


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## dodidoki (Apr 29, 2020)

If I knew well, the difference between hookerae and volonteanum is the different pigmentation.Backside of the leaves are depigmented, green at hookerae and pigmented with red at volonteanum.I have 4 hookeraes and have no pigment on leaves at all.


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## jokerpass (Apr 29, 2020)

yes, I know about this. However, there is so much breeding I don't even know if you can use the pigmentation on the underside of the leaf as a marker to id hookerae vs. volonteanum anymore....some people's hookerae has pigmentation but very lightly pigmented.


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## jokerpass (Apr 29, 2020)

For this plant, I just checked the pigmentation. The oldest leaves (bottom 2 leaves) do not have pigmentation at all. The newest leave has the most pigmentation (light, not so heavy). the leaves in between the oldest and newest leaf have some pigmentation but not as much as the newest leave. It appears that the pigmentation disappears as the leaf gets older.....this is wierd, maybe it is due to the breeding....I dont know.


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## SlipperKing (Apr 29, 2020)

jokerpass said:


> yes, I know about this. However, there is so much breeding I don't even know if you can use the pigmentation on the underside of the leaf as a marker to id hookerae vs. volonteanum anymore....some people's hookerae has pigmentation but very lightly pigmented.


The little tiny notch at the top of the stami you look for, most all have a bottom of some sort.
I've had hookerae in the past and I have 2 now, they are all green on the underside. My volonteanum all have maroon in various degrees. DrLeslie has already check the Mallingham clone and its hookerae. The pollen parent of this cross is the one I question. I'm not able to locate a pic, a description or even a source where it comes from. Until something legitimate comes along for the pollen parent I say this cross is a hybrid. Hybrid vigor is probably why everyone is blooming this cross right now, including myself. Neither of these species is easy to grow and bloom well, especially for everybody.


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## jokerpass (Apr 29, 2020)

I am reading the description of Paph hookerae and Paph volonteanum in a book called "The Genus Paphiopedilum Natural History and Cultivation" volume 2 by Dr. G. J. Braem.

Paph hookerae: "The leaves of Paphiopedilum hookerae are elliptic-oblong, deep reen, distinctly tesselate with grayish-green to yellowish-green, and the undersurface often is suffused with red." quote pg 279. The 2 pictures of Paph hookerae only have a notch at the bottom of the staminode, there is no upper notch.

Paph volonteanum: "In general, the description under Paphiopedilum hookerae can be followed. The leaves are proportionally narrower and spotted purple on the underside, the petals are broader and more obtuse, and te lip is more constricted below the orifice. The petals are about 1 inch (2.5cm) wide, bright purple at the apex, and intensely spotted with purple toward the base. Paphiopedilum volonteanum, however, is a highly variable species occuring over a vast range of altitudes " P284

Within this complex, two taxax, Paphiopedilum hookerae and Paphiopedilum volonteanum, have been described at the species level. There is no doubt that the two concepts are very closely related, and most authors have hitherto treated them as two varieties of the earlier concept, Paphiopedilum hookerae. The same view is taken by the registrar of orchid hybrids at the RHS. The judges of the American Orchid Society have not been consistent in their treatment. Some plants of Paphiopedilum volonteanum have been awarded as such while others were awarded as Paphiopedilum hookerae var. volonteanum. The differences between the two taxas are indeed very subjective, especially in view of the fact that Paphiopedilum volonteanum has proven to be extremely variable in respectto the shape of the petals, lip, staminodal shield, and the characterstics of the leaves. Some low-elevation population of Paphiopedilum volonteanum show leaves that are as broad as those normally considered typical of Paphiopedilum hookerae and have purple markings underneath only at the base. This variation is not surprising considering that Paphiopedilum volonteanum occurs from 200 ft (60m) to 7500 ft (2300m)." pg277

Sounds like you cannot easily distinguish the differences. Sounds like even in the wild, Paph volonteanum and Paph hookerae can probably pollinate each other and you cannot tell.


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## jokerpass (Apr 29, 2020)

On page 277 the book also mentions:

Paphiopedilum hookerae: leaves oblong ligulate (tongue shaped), unicolored green on the underside; petals spatulate, subacute. (but on page 279, it says that th under surface often is suffused with red).

Paphiopedilum volonteanum: Leaves narrowly ligulate, the underside sotted purple, petals broadly spathulate, obtuse.

This plant, the leaves look like tongues (tongued-shaped).


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## DrLeslieEe (Apr 30, 2020)

Despite all the literature out there, re color and shape of leaves and notches in staminodes, I think the most definitive differentiation between the two is that volonteanum has more intense coloration and rounded paddle shaped petals. That is if one wants to label their plants. 

In judging, after looking at all the taxonomists viewpoints, I would use my two points above to finalize the identity. Then if any judges are in doubt, we can send it for identification.


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## Paphtrick (Mar 21, 2021)

I hope, it's okay to just add a picture of my hookerae, that is blooming now  Or is it a good practice here, to open a new thread?


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## DrLeslieEe (Mar 21, 2021)

By all means, do as you like. Great to compare here though. Love this flower.


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## musa (Mar 22, 2021)

Love the contrast of the bright purple petals and the dark pouch!


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