My Paphs of subg. Paphiopedilum in 2024

[GuRu]

The 'starters' of the year are both reliable bloomer and are flowering again within the span of less than one year.
Paph. gratrixianum var. christensonianum is a very strong plant and a big clump .... the ladybird on top of one of the two flowers is the icing on the cake for me.

Paph. villosum var. villosum is at the moment the only variety of villosum in flowering size in my collection. I grow some more varieties of Paph. villosum but all need some time until I could expect a flower.

 

[Djthomp28]

Very nice starter for the year.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Nice villosums Guru.

The second one might be var atratum?

 

[GuRu]

Nice villosums ....... might be var atratum?

There isn't much information in the net as well as in books about that varity ... does it exist or not ?
KEW Science doesn't mention such variety.
O. Gruss writes in his book 'Paphiopedilum Südostasiatische Frauenschuhe Band 2' on page 811 about P. villosum var. boxallii fma. atratum :
"Zwar ist im Handel gelegentlich die Form atratum zu finden, doch ist eine genaue Abtrennung gegenüber der typischen Form nicht klar, denn die Übergänge sind fließend."
in English "Indeed you can find form atratum in trade from time to time, but the exact separation from the typus form isn't clear and the transitions are fluent."

 

[GuRu]

This is what I bought as Paphiopedilum insigne fma. sanderianum. I say what I bought because on the one hand I'm not 100% sure or convinced it to be the pure species due to some traits that make me doubt like :
- the shape of the leaves .... they look in width and shape very Paph. villosum like
- the shape of the petals
- the green colour of the knob on the staminode
On the other hand I know that P. insigne is in all parts very variable.
So I would like to read what other members think.
I know, this isn't really P. insigne season but the last flowering was in October .... at the beginning of the 'insigne season'.

 

[JayeL]

Lovely flower. I don't think I would have questioned the label...

As mentioned, PI is variable, and IMHO I would have thought that this would fall within the normal variability.

JL

 

[Ozpaph]

love all three. the dorsal colour in the gratrix is wonderful

 

[GuRu]

This little dark gem is in flower again Paph. hermannii. I like this darker clone a lot.
During the warmer months I grow it outdoors ... but took it inside for flowering.

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

The 'starters' of the year are both reliable bloomer and are flowering again within the span of less than one year.
Paph. gratrixianum var. christensonianum is a very strong plant and a big clump .... the ladybird on top of one of the two flowers is the icing on the cake for me.

Paph. villosum var. villosum is at the moment the only variety of villosum in flowering size in my collection. I grow some more varieties of Paph. villosum but all need some time until I could expect a flower.

There's a lady bug on the back flower if you zoom in

 

[GuRu]

There's a lady bug on the back flower if you zoom in

Good observacion .... indeed it was there when I took the photo.

 

[Tom-DE]

I can easily fall in love with Paph. gratrixianum.....small plant, good flower size, and varieties to collect. Good work, Rudolf.

 

[GuRu]

Another variety of Paph. villosum is flowering again .... Paph. villosum var. laichaunum. It is ... at least in my eyes and in my collection ... the prettiest vatiety of Paph. villosum.

 

[Tom-DE]

Paph. villosum var. laichaunum. It is ... at least in my eyes and in my collection ... the prettiest vatiety of Paph. villosum.

Love it! Nice growing, Rudolf.
I agree var. laichaunum is the prettiest among the villosums but the plant is not small or compact(at least for my clone). How big is the LS on yours? and how is that compared to your other villosum varieties?

 

[GuRu]

........ but the plant is not small or compact(at least for my clone). How big is the LS on yours? and how is that compared to your other villosum varieties?

Tom, so far my plant is quiet compact, the leaf span is about 36-38 cm (14,17-14,96"). Same leaf span has the variety var. annamense and the f. aureum but these plants haven't flowered yet. The var. villosum (post #1 in this thread) is slightly bigger and has a leaf span of about 44-48 cm (17,3-18,9"). The Paph. gratrixianum var. christensonianum (also from post #1) has a leaf span of about 56-60 cm (22-23,6").
But the leaves of all of these species grow more or less upright, so a bigger leaf span shouldn't cause problems.

 

[Tom-DE]

Thank you, Rudolf. My plant(var. laichaunum) is compact but growths aren't upright like yours. Although my plan isn't huge(maybe 18-20" LS), it still takes up a bit of room. How much light for your plants, very bright?
Your Paph. gratrixianum v. chritensonianum is even bigger...Wow! The photo fooled me! Is Paph. gratrixianum a lot smaller than Paph. villosum in general?

 

[GuRu]

...... How much light for your plants, very bright?

During winter time, from October (before the temperature drops too low) until late April, they sit behind a west facing window with bright sun, if she shines, in the afternoon. During summer I put them outside and the sit underneath a roof between the house and the garage in more or less shade.

Your Paph. gratrixianum v. chritensonianum is even bigger...Wow! The photo fooled me! Is Paph. gratrixianum a lot smaller than Paph. villosum in general?

Do you mean the plants or the flowers ? ... the flowers are about the same size.

 

[Tom-DE]

Do you mean the plants or the flowers ? ... the flowers are about the same size.

I am referring to the plant size. Based on my memory, the typical gratrixianum is a much smaller plant in general. I am just surprised to hear your gratrix. var. christensonianum is so big...o/c size varies even among the same species/group. One of the reasons why I am starting to collect gratrixianum is its smaller plant size and they(all its varieties) aren't that popular/readily available now here in U.S.

 

[GuRu]

I am referring to the plant size. Based on my memory, the typical gratrixianum is a much smaller plant in general. I am just surprised to hear your gratrix. var. christensonianum is so big...o/c size varies even among the same species/group. One of the reasons why I am starting to collect gratrixianum is its smaller plant size and they(all its varieties) aren't that popular/readily available now here in U.S.

Tom, I can't confirm the smaller plant size in geberal of Paph. gratrixianum. The only variety which may have shorter leaves might be var. daoense. The other varieties are more or less the same size as Paph. villosum or slightly bigger. Stephen Manza (silence882) mentiones on Slipperorchids.info leaves with a lenght up to 30 cm Paph. gratrixianum. On another homepage of the German guy U.Mittrach (World of Paphiopedilum) you can see some photos of different Paph. gratrixianum with the foliage included. Have a look at Paph. gratrixianum | World of Paphiopedilum.

 

[Tom-DE]

Tom, I can't confirm the smaller plant size in geberal of Paph. gratrixianum. The only variety which may have shorter leaves might be var. daoense. The other varieties are more or less the same size as Paph. villosum or slightly bigger. Stephen Manza (silence882) mentiones on Slipperorchids.info leaves with a lenght up to 30 cm Paph. gratrixianum. On another homepage of the German guy U.Mittrach (World of Paphiopedilum) you can see some photos of different Paph. gratrixianum with the foliage included. Have a look at Paph. gratrixianum | World of Paphiopedilum.

Thank you for all the info, Rudolf. According to S. Manza's website, the leaf(a single leaf, not LS. LS is measured by a set of leaves from tip to tip) is up to 30cm long(max.), which is about 11" long. Since gratrixianum is more upright, the LS should be around 14-15"(for the bigger varieties) and that is much smaller compared to my villosum var. laichaunum(23" LS, just measured). I have a gratrix. var. daoense seedling coming and I do hope it will stay small/smaller when it is matured.
I just looked it up on Jay's site(IOSPE), and it indicates gratrixianum is a small plant while villosum is large.
I am no expert on this group...all I remembered(if my memory doesn't fail me) is that the very few ones I had seen were not big and the growths were upright, very tight together/compact, narrow leaves as well.
PS, I have not seen the var. christensonianum in person, so I am just surprised to hear how big it is...
Thank you for the links for these two Paph. websites. I had visited Manza's site but not the other one... Both have a lot of useful info.

 

[GuRu]

....... LS is measured by a set of leaves from tip to tip) is up to 30cm long(max.), which is about 11" long. .....

Tom, I measured my leaf span of leaves vis a vis from tip to tip over the centre ... so it may be more or less the lenght of two leaves.
But theory isn't all, but praxis is the real thing. So I made a quick comparison photo of my Paph. villosum (left), Paph. villosum var. laichaunum (centre) and Paph. gratrixianum var. christensonianum (right).