How does Averynov get esquirolei x helenae? I see so much henryanum in it. Cribb thinks it is a hybrid between hirsutissimum x henryanum which seems the logical parents if you think it is a hybrid.
So far nobody has shown me the traits that suggest henryanum?, there are NO spots anywhere in the hermanii I have seen. I have often disagreed with Cribb over a number of matters involving taxonomy, and generally after a time, the other taxonomists prevail. Early pronouncements on a new species should be taken with a grain of salt, 20 years from now the matter will likely be viewed as settled. If someone could point out the henryanum traits in hermanii I would accept it, but so far nobody has. I do not agree with Avereynov either, but at least both putative parents he proposes are free of bold spots, like hermanii.
Koopowitz thinks it is a species that has emerged from a hybrid. ... is a population of hybrids that have become isolated over time and have continued to evolve. They would unlikely be 50% one parent and 50% another. In this case may be more henryanum. This would explain why these comparisons of man-made hybrids and natural hybrids never match up. You are comparing apples and oranges.
David
I think Koopowitz is correct. I think Paph hermanii is a species, and if its origin is hybrid, it has been a stable interbreeding entity of many generations, or many tens of thousands of years. The modest sampling of images and live plants I have seen do not suggest any recent gene introgression from recent outcrossing to either putative parent or any other species for that matter. In this case the term species is more appropriate than the term natural hybrid.
There are natural hybrids occurring in nature that breeding experiments have shown are clearly F1 or F2 from the parental cross. This is the case where the term natural hybrid fits nicely.
There are species that clearly include hybrid swarms in the background, with a range of traits that at one end may be most like one parent, on the other end are most like the other parent. When a species description includes the words: "highly variable ..." this is the likely case. We do not have good termonoligy for this. Natural Hybrid, Hybrid Swarm, Super Species. Species Complex are all terms used here.
Everything I have seen of Paph hermanii suggests it is relatively uniform in appearance. You would never confuse one for a smallish hirsustissimum, nor a henryanum nor a helenae nor for a barbigerum. They seem quite unique unto themselves. This argues for using the term "species". If a natural hybrid becomes isolated, and continues to breed and evolve, and genetically in its population becomes fairly uniform, I believe these criteria meet the meaning of species. Regardless of origin. How many years and generations are enough to call something a species? 1000, 10,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000?
I'm going to stick to calling hermanii a good species. It certainly is a cute compact Paph. It will make lovely hybrids.
I think these little controversies make the hobby fun.:evil:
