Multi floral paphiopedilum spicerianum

[Optimist]

Well, I guess your genetic lotto was for "twin" spikes. I am not sure what exactly constitutes multi floral, but your description convinces me that you have one.

[Manu]

Originally Posted by Optimist

Well, I guess your genetic lotto was for "twin" spikes. I am not sure what exactly constitutes multi floral, but your description convinces me that you have one.

Considering the plant tag said Multi Floral, I wouldn't call that lottery lol

I was expecting Multi floral, until I noticed that spicerianum was not commonly a multi floral Paph. At that point, I figured that it was "mislabeled" and they meant multi flowers from multi growth plant. But then the spikes started popping out and are real multi floral..

There is one more possiblity... Maybe this is not a spicerianum!! Will find out soon enough!

[Paphluvr]

Originally Posted by Manu

There is one more possiblity... Maybe this is not a spicerianum!! Will find out soon enough!

You can already see the purple stripe on the white dorsal.
I don't think you need to worry about that.

[Manu]

Originally Posted by Paphluvr

You can already see the purple stripe on the white dorsal.
I don't think you need to worry about that.

Was thinking the same.. here's a new shot 5 days later.. it went from super slow growing to now quickly growing.

[Fairorchids]

In subsection Paphiopedilum (insigne, spicerianum, villosum, etc.), it is relatively rare to see 2 flowes on the stalk. It sounds as if this particular plant does it regularly, which makes it somewhat more interesting/valuable.

In subsection Sigmatopletalum (callosum, barbatum, lawrenceanum, sukhakulii, etc.), it is a somewhat more common occurence. In callosum, var subleave, up to 5 flowers on the same stalk have been reported, though 3 or 4 is usually max.

[Manu]

Thanks for the added info Kim!

Is that little thing poking out of the 2nd flower perhaps a third one? I'm mainly a Phal grower and this is my first multi floral Paph!

[No-Pro-mwa]

Wow, exiting.

[Manu]

Hey everyone, had a follow up question.

The first spike produced 2 flowers. The second flower opened 10 days after the first.

It has 3 more spikes growing and a bunch of other shoots maturing.

The second spike has a bud that is rising and the bract (is that how it's called on a Paph?) of the first flower seems to have stalled in the crown. What is happening to that spike? Is that a form of bud blast? Did it just pause on the first flower? The 3rd spike behind seems to be coming out like the first one with 2 flowers, but it's too early to tell.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... So I guess this will clarify any confusion :-)






BTW, anyone notice a fragrance on their spicerianum? I thought it wasn't supposed to be fragrant, but from up close I can detect a slight fragrance. I find it quite pleasant, I'd describe it as fresh cigar tobacco, it's very discrete, you really need to get your nose in there.

---------- Post added at 11:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 AM ----------

Looking in my photos I found this from March 1st. You can see in the bottom left corner the second spike. The one that stalled there was the first one to poke out the. Then came the second one and first one stopped there.