Paph question....

[psyc1210]

I have been really getting into wanting another Paph....but I want one with corkscrew petals. I know Paph sanderianum has the corkscrew petals, but I'm afraid that is just too big for my growing space. What others are out there that have petals that corkscrew like that?

So far I have found one cross that I thought was pretty, but haven't been able to find it for sale. I found Paph philippinense X laevigatum...

[jay]

The very long corkscrew Paphs tend to be larger multi-florals. Some of them can be challenging, like Paph sanderianum.

Do they have to be long, or will shorter ones work?

I like this link when looking at species and primary hybrids. They also have some complex hybrids.

Some of the Choclopetalum Paphs have small petals with a nice twist.

Hopefully this will help with your search.

[psyc1210]

WOW, thank you so much for that link Jay.

I found the one I want for sure. I want the Paph parishii.....or maybe the Paph philippinense var roebbelenii. I can't make up my mind yet. But really, thanks so much for that link.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by psyc1210

I have been really getting into wanting another Paph....but I want one with corkscrew petals. I know Paph sanderianum has the corkscrew petals, but I'm afraid that is just too big for my growing space. What others are out there that have petals that corkscrew like that?

There are a couple of different sections of paphs that contain species with "corkscrew" petals. One is the Cochlopetalum Section which contains twisted short petals. Species include:
Paph primulinum
Paph primulinum var. purpurescens
Paph glaucophyllum
Paph victoria-reginae
Paph victoria-mariae
Paph liemianum

There are a few paphs with longer twisted petals in the Corypetalum Section. These include:
Paph philippinense
Paph philippinense var. robelenii
Paph sanderianum (as you already know)
Paph glanduliferum
Paph wilhwlminae (somewhat twisted, not as much as others)
Paph parishii
Paph dianthum

The sizes of the species I have listed above ranges from borderline miniature (Paph primulinum) all the way up to BIG (Paph sanderianum) and in between as well.

There are zillions of hybrids. Look through the slipperorchids.info link Jay provided for pics of hybrids containing the above listed species. Slipperorchids.info is great for pictures and hybrids but not very good for names as it uses a lot of obsolete synonyms for some reason.

I have quite a number of corkscrew species and hybrids so feel free to ask lots of questions.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by psyc1210

So far I have found one cross that I thought was pretty, but haven't been able to find it for sale. I found Paph philippinense X laevigatum...

Paph parishii is one of my favorite paphs. It probably won't be easy to find though. Paph laevigatum is an obsolete synonym for Paph philippinense so Paph philippinense X laevigatum = Paph philippinense.

[psyc1210]

Kevin-

Is the Paph philippinense var robelenii a large plant, medium, small?

[kmarch]

Paph philippinense and its var. robelenii are quite variable. They can be big, maybe up to about 2 ft in diameter or they can be small, a foot or less, and all be flowering size. I had a var. robelenii that flowered on a plant that was only about 6-7 inches in diameter but that's not typical and the plant proceded to die quickly after flowering. From what I have seen, they are more typically around 18 inches or so. The inflorescence can be up to about 2 ft. Tomy way of thinking that puts them into the medium size plant category.

[psyc1210]

And why is it hard to find Paph parishii? I read that it's hard to grow from seed...is that correct?

[kmarch]

To begin with, all paphs (phrags too) are grown from seed. For some reason they can not be cloned, though there is a guy in South Australia who has apparently cloned a couple of hybrids.

I personally do not know if Paph parishii is hard to grow from seed to flowering because I have never done that. I do have a few seedlings now and they are easy so far but very slow growing and small, far from flowering.

[psyc1210]

Where did you find your seedlings of Paph parishii? I did do some searching earlier for that, and really didn't find anything at all.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by psyc1210

Where did you find your seedlings of Paph parishii?

I bought mine here in Australia from a nursery that is no longer running.

[psyc1210]

Originally Posted by kmarch

I bought mine here in Australia from a nursery that is no longer running.

Darnit! haha