What's my name?

[TyroneGenade]

Hello,

This stunning Paph was on the plants table last night at the COS meeting.

The reverse side of the dorsal sepals were flushed with pink/rose:

A closer look at one of the flowers revealed this funny little growth:

Firstly, this looks like an "old" plant. It has all the hallmarks of a complex Paph but you can still see more of the parents. To me it looks certain that one parent was Leeanum or at the very least insigne (based on the color and specifically the bright yellow stami) and spicerianum (colour and size) are only one generation away. The dorsal veining is interesting. Both villosum/boxallii and victoria-regina/chamberlainianum cause this in hybrids. I favor the latter option as the leaves looked thin and not very Leeanum like at all. In fact they looked sick, but since this plant was carrying 3 LARGE flowers it was obviously healthy. Also, could that funny little growth be an attempt at a second bud? I think that the other parent was surely also a 1st generation hybrid with chamberlainianum.

Anyone care to make a guess as to this cross?

 

[Roy]

Tyrone, whats the prize for guessing this one ???? I can see insigne, villosum, spicerianum in it to start with. It could be a Primary x Primary or a species x modern complex, Primary x Modern complex. It will be interesting to read the reviews.

 

[TyroneGenade]

Hello,

I'm guessing primary cross primary. My first guess was Leeanum x Nitens or x Lathamianum. I doubt this is a modern complex. Locally, the few people breeding Paphs are all working on complex species where spotting the parentage is far less obvious.

The plant was brought in by an elderly gentleman (men were gentlemen back then...) who got if from another elderly person (probably in ill health as he said the plant didn't look so well initially).

My problem with a Leeanum x Lathamianum mix is that the flowers were much larger than Leeanum and the leaves were thin and floppy. I don't think Maudiae is in it because they were unmottled. Could villosum explain the pink flush?

Could be more complex than primary x primary. The size is exceptional and there is very strong spicerianum & insigne influence in the flower.

Sorry, no prize for this one.

 

[SlipperFan]

I couldn't guess -- but I think you were lucky to pick it up.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

It looks a few generations removed from Leeanum/Lathamianum, but still an early complex type....from maybe the 1920's or early 30's......maybe the Christopher generation.....

 

[TyroneGenade]

The more I think about this the more impossible it becomes.

There is surely charlesworthi or gratixianum (pink flush), villosum, insigne and spicerianum in this cross. Spicerianum must feature in most of the primary crosses because this flower was HUGE.

A great pity, it is an excellent flower. It deserves a name.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

That little growth is an aborted 2nd bud, but that is very common in complex paphs...not a sign of cochlopetalum influence. The more I look at it, the more it seems like a typical complex paph....the flowers have aged, so the dorsal sepal has reflexed. That is very common in many complex paphs, undoubtedly from the spicerianum and villosum/boxallii genes in the mix. Take care, Eric