This is the first time this guy is blooming... either someone forgot to tel him that Ladyslippers MUST have a slipper, or it just has psychological problems and is trying to imitate the Phrag. lindenii growing next to it...
Yes, it obviously has some psychological issues to get over. Maybe he's having an inferiority complex from being next to the lindenii? You should take him to see a shrink!
The color is so nice though, so hopefully future blooms with turn out more normal looking.
__________________ Camille
Completely orchid obsessed and loving every minute of it....
Phragmipedium fischeri has some inherent genetic issues. When it was described, the flower had an "extra" part (a flap between the pouch and the fused lateral sepals) and a partially deformed staminode.
If it were a hybrid, this type of anomaly would be dismissed as the likely result of aneuploidy - not quite the right number of chromosomes.
HI Eric, thanks for the info... I new about the first described plant and the "extra pouch"... therefore I found really funny that my "first plant" was the opposite: pouchless...
I hope this characteristic is not stable in my plant, and the next blooming are "normal"... especially because I think the color i sgreat for this particular plant...