This gorgeous hybrid owes most of its striking charisma to the Paph micranthum parent, which lends its large pouch with contrasting smaller tepals having pink-red stripes to the picture. The primulinum parent adds a slightly altered pouch and tepal shape (more slender), more subdued coloring (the pouch is ivory and the tepals a soft misty pink), a multifloral habit (2-3 sequentially opening flowers per stem), and ease of culture, which is a major drawback for micranthum. So what you get is a flower very similar to micranthum, but in greater numbers and appearing much easier than micranthum! I don't believe any of the hybrids made with micranthum are any better-looking than the species (not even Magic Lantern), but this is an amazing plant well worth seeking out. I have taken three photos of the same flower at different angles so one can fully appreciate the three-dimensional character of the bloom (which is a feature of any slipper orchid but especially with this one).
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment