My parents-in-law returned from their recent trip to California with an orchid for me. This is my first ever "lady slipper" orchid. It opened about a week after they brought it home to me.
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| Paphiopedilum bloom |
It is not labeled, other than the genus of
Paphiopedilum. I imagine this is a hybrid, rather than a species, but I don't know enough about this genus to know for sure.
Paphiopedilum is the genus of Asian lady slippers, while
Cypripedium, Selenipedium, Phragmipedium and the monotypic genus
Mexipedium are the American lady slipper genera. [Can you guess the only location where the single
Mexipedium species grows?] There are about 80 naturally occurring species of
Paphiopedilums, including a couple of natural hybrids.
Paphiopedilums are all sympodial, meaning that they grow along a creeping rhizome (like an
Iris).
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| Paphiopedilum plant |
I have looked through a
photo gallery of species pictures and my particular plant doesn't really resemble any of the true species. The
photo gallery of hybrids is much too large for me to narrow down my potential hybrid. The orchid is very attractive, having nice leaves, even when not blooming.
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| Paphiopedilum leaves |
This is beautiful and so unusual!
ReplyDeleteLooks like it is a dandy path but I like the green room too. Is that lexan?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is Lexan triple-wall polycarbonate.
ReplyDeleteit looks like it should be something from this section:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slipperorchids.info/paphdatasheets/sigmatopetalum/sukhakulii/index.html
(the hybrids are listed below)