Paph philippinense

[Fairorchids]

A year ago I bid on Paph Billy Cardalino in the NJOS summer auction. To the auctioneers surprise, the plant was only about 6" across, but it had an old flower stalk in the original growth.

At the time I had just heard about a small growing version of Paph philippinense. Now I have obtained one of them. This plant is growing in a 3" pot, so you can judge for yourself how 'large' it is:

[billc]

That has a nicely striped dorsal.

Bill

[palm521]

are you sure this is a philipinensis? i might be wrong, so i let experts say what they think , i do find those petals too wide and short for the species, (but thats just me) .

regardless, that is a nice plant you got there.

[Fairorchids]

Flower was not fully open when I took that photo.

I trust my supplier 100% when it comes to Paphs. With the smaller growth habit, it is clearly a distinct population. Whether it should be considered a variety, a sub-species, or possibly a new species, I have to leave up to the taxonomists.

However, these minis have been known for at least 5-10 years (since I have BS hybrids made with them), and I have not heard of anyone talking about the possibility of a new species so far.

[AvantGardner]

I used to own this teacup variety, most commonly called philippinense var. palawanense. It is named after Palawan island, where the diminuative variety is found. It is truly a marvel how small they are, both plant and flower.

I have only heard of a handful of these in cultivation, so what you have there is very rare and special. I unfortunately lost mine to rot not long after I purchased it. Phils are notorious for basal rot. Take care of the little guy and congrats on growing and blooming it!

[WhiteRabbit]

Awesome!

[palm521]

thanks , guys i stand corrected

cheers!

Antonio.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by AvantGardner

I used to own this teacup variety, most commonly called philippinense var. palawanense. It is named after Palawan island, where the diminuative variety is found. It is truly a marvel how small they are, both plant and flower.

I have only heard of a handful of these in cultivation, so what you have there is very rare and special. I unfortunately lost mine to rot not long after I purchased it. Phils are notorious for basal rot. Take care of the little guy and congrats on growing and blooming it!

I have difficulties verifying this with a photo, but I suspect the reason why Paph philippinense is "notorious for basal rot" is because it is naturally a lithophyte growing on limestone cliffs and outcrops.

If Paphs such as Paph sanderianum and Paph stonei are lithophytes growing on limestone rocks, it's reasonable to believe that Paph philippinense is one as well, (unless it's an outlier of the group).

Just a hunch…