Paph. 'Coronado's Quest'

[chris_todd]

This is a Paphiopedilum I picked up at the Woodstream Orchids open house this last weekend. IT WAS ONLY TEN BUCKS!!! I asked the owner why an orchid so beautiful, and in bloom, could be only ten bucks, and he said it was because it was an unknown hybrid. I didn't care, and thought it was beautiful, so I bought it on the spot. A little web searching suggests it is a hybrid of Paph. wardii and "Black Cherry", and the few pictures I see online are very similar to my plant:


It certainly seems to have elements of Paph. wardii, but also (perhaps) of Paph. argus.

So here's an ignorant newbie question: I have not (yet; I feel an obsession coming on that may only be satisfied by owning the most complete database of all orchid species and hybrids ) purchased a license for OrchidWiz. Would it be an inappropriate question for me to ask someone who has paid for OrchidWiz to search it to see if it has information about the Paph. 'Coronado's Quest' hybrid, to see if it is registered, and what information is available on it? If that is an inappropriate question, please do not hesitate to say so. I'm in I.T. myself, and so I understand that the developers of OrchidWiz deserve to make a living, too. On the other hand, if there are other public sources of Orchid hybrid registration I'm not aware of, which might reveal information about this hybrid's parentage, pointing me in that direction would be appreciated.

To some extent, I don't care what this is a hybrid of, because I think it's beautiful. On the other hand, I have a real curiosity. Anyone that can help satisfy that curiosity would have my gratitude.

[Carl Austin]

Your plant is a hybrid of P Black Cherry X P wardii. Black Cherry is a Maudiae type hybrid.

Carl

[quiltergal]

Paph. Coronado's Quest was registerd by Buddy Mark in 1999. It's 50% wardii, 28% callosum, 17% lawrenceanum, 3% barbatum, and 1% mastersianum.

[slipperfreak]

Just so you know Chris, grex names should not be written in quote marks. Your hybrid is written as Paph. Coronado's Quest. Single quote marks are used only for cultivar names.

[chris_todd]

Originally Posted by slipperfreak

Just so you know Chris, grex names should not be written in quote marks. Your hybrid is written as Paph. Coronado's Quest. Single quote marks are used only for cultivar names.

Slipperfreak, thanks for pointing out my mistake, I'm still learning about orchid nomenclature, and appreciate being corrected.

May I assume you just have to trust the label to know whether what you have is a grex or a cultivar?

Carl and quiltergal, thanks for the information about this orchid's ancestry, that's cool. I checked out the Koopowitz book (Tropical Slipper Orchids) from my local public library, and was reading about Maudiae hybrids in there - neat stuff!

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by chris_todd

Slipperfreak, thanks for pointing out my mistake, I'm still learning about orchid nomenclature, and appreciate being corrected.

May I assume you just have to trust the label to know whether what you have is a grex or a cultivar?

Carl and quiltergal, thanks for the information about this orchid's ancestry, that's cool. I checked out the Koopowitz book (Tropical Slipper Orchids) from my local public library, and was reading about Maudiae hybrids in there - neat stuff!

It becomes difficult to know if it's a grex or cultivar if it is written incorrectly on the label, unless you know orchid hybrids inside and out. Usually if you do some research, you can figure it out, unless it's a really obscure hybrid. OrchidWiz is a great tool for this sort of thing. But generally, you can assume it's a grex if the only name on the tag is the one with quote marks. Most people wouldn't write a cultivar name with no grex name.

By the way, Koopowitz's book is, in my opinion, the best one available on slipper orchid culture currently. It's already a little outdated, as a lot has happened in the past couple years, but it's more current than others, and very informative. Enjoy it!

[Blueszz]

I can't help you with identifying this one. I only can say that I like it a lot and that I would have bought it too. Nameless or not, for me is the most important thing that I what I grow I consider to be beautiful - and this one met that standard

Nicole

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

I can't help you with identifying this one. I only can say that I like it a lot and that I would have bought it too. Nameless or not, for me is the most important thing that I what I grow I consider to be beautiful - and this one met that standard

Nicole

It's not nameless - it's Paph Coronado's Quest (Black Cherry x wardii), as Carl said.

[chris_todd]

While removing orchids from my terrarium to water them, I knocked the flower off this plant.

Should I cut the flower stem, or will this plant possibly flower from that stalk again?

[slipperfreak]

Originally Posted by chris_todd

While removing orchids from my terrarium to water them, I knocked the flower off this plant.

Should I cut the flower stem, or will this plant possibly flower from that stalk again?

Nope, that inflorescence will not re-flower. Cut it off, using a flame-sterilized blade.