Paph. wardii 'China Doll' x self

Spaph · Jan 19, 2014

I have been away on vacation for 3 weeks and was treated to a bunch of blooms when I got home. One was a plant I have grown from flask and also a plant that I had my first exposure to Slippertalk when I found the enclosed lively thread back in 2009- http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12958&highlight=wardii+china+doll

Finally blooming this plant it still remains a mystery, the foliage lacks any red pigment that a normal wardii would have on the underside of it's leaves and the flower is not typical wardii. No obvious other species or hybrid comes to mind. I've contacted the vendor and he feels it is wardii and does not have more info on the original plants origin.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

eggshells · Jan 20, 2014

Welcome back my friend.

Looks like it has some dayanum on it.

Paphman910 · Jan 20, 2014

Reminds me of Paph dayanum with something in it!

emydura · Jan 20, 2014

eggshells said:
Welcome back my friend.

Looks like it has some dayanum on it.

I agree. The leaves don't look full wardii either. Definitely a hybrid in my view.

John M · Jan 20, 2014

My first thought: dayanum hybrid. .....And, dayanum has BEAUTIFUL foliage; similar to that top leaf. The other leaves look like they're a bit washed out. Too much light? Nutrient deficiency? I don't know; but, that young leaf pictured looks like dayanum; but, not exactly. That lends to the theory that this is a dayanum hybrid. I'd certainly never use this in breeding as a wardii. It's not pure wardii.

SlipperKing · Jan 20, 2014

When i saw it on your other thread dayanum came to mind before I read your tag. Clearly the 'China Doll' clone in the old referenced thread is a Maudiae type of hybrid. One thing neat about wardii is the intense speckling on the front of the pouch. You start seeing plants with very little spotting and/or colored veining showing up in the pouches I get very uneasy about the true ID.

NYEric · Jan 20, 2014

Hybrid.

Trithor · Jan 20, 2014

Yup, a hybrid for sure. It seems to have an interesting mix of a number of species, one of which is almost certainly dayanum. Perhaps Callo-day x wardii?

Spaph · Jan 20, 2014

Thanks for your feedback everyone, I agree it is some kind of hybrid with dayanum somewhere in there... I will never use it in any breeding or reproduction and will change the label to "hybrid??"... I will wait and see how the others bloom and maybe keep the best as a novelty plant after waiting 8 years for a bloom from flask!