Name that Paph.. . hint: Slivraar glavc x phil

[pychou77]

The label from previous owner was barely legible and reads something like “Paph. Slivraar glave x phil.” Unfortunately, I could not find a good match on the Internet. Could it be a Silvara? Leaf span of mature plant is about 17". Thanks in advance if anyone can verify it with "glave x phil."

[estación seca]

"phil" is likely Paphiopedilum philippinense. "glave" makes me wonder about Paphiopedilium glaucophyllum. I'm not familiar with Paph hybrids but other here are.

[cricketerry]

Could the first named be Silvara Yard? A Mukoyama hybrid.

[MrHappyRotter]

My guess would be Paph Shireen (glaucophyllum x philippinense). The leaves and description look appropriate for that cross, but I suspect we won't know for sure unless/until it blooms.

[pychou77]

I had this Paph for over 5 years, and all it did was producing more new growths. The previous owner (also in Ohio) gave up on it for the same reason.

An OrchidBoard member from NM, Optimist, got a division of this Paph earlier this year. With her Midas touch, she was able to get it to bloom in just a few months. Optimist was kind enough to send me pictures of the flowers. She suggested that the flowers have the features of typical Paph. Philippinense.

So, thanks to Optimist, we have made a giant step forward to identify this this mysterious Paph.

[MrHappyRotter]

That would be Paphiopedilum Shireen.

Given that the tag said (what you interpreted as) glavc x phil or glave x phil, which was almost certainly meant to be glauc x phil (shorthand for glaucophyllum x philippinense) and the Slivraar is very likely a misinterpretation of Shireen, in association with the flower photo that clearly demonstrates this is a cocholopetalum hybrid crossed to a multifloral, I think the ID is fairly certain here.

[pychou77]

MrHappyRotter, You've got it!!! I couldn't make sense out of the "aa" in "Slivraar." "Shireen" is a perfect fit. Thanks!

[Optimist]

By golly, that is it! The sort of chartreuse green behind the purple-brown bars on the dorsal sepal, the very warted and twisted petals, and a kind of pinkish pouch.

It really is nice. The care I gave it was basically throwing it in the backyard and spray it with a hose every morning. (We have very hard water here, so I am thinking the suspended minerals in the water must have helped. The division that bloomed was outside (shadecloth), in only lecca (edit: sorry, it also had mixed in wood planting mix) and had daily waterings, It now has 3 more growths. The division that did not have a spike was in typical "better grow" potting soil, and it has no growths. (Figures, right? I will be repotting that one into lecca).

I am having great success with paphiopedilums in semi-hydro. I think these will be repotted for the winter.

The nice things about this plant is that it is fairly compact and the flowers (4 of them but the last one the bud was not fully formed) were on a stocky stem, about 1 foot long so no real worry about an ultra long stem to break. The flowers last a lot longer than some paphs.

Nice. Thanks for the ID!

[pychou77]

Now you have heard the successful story from Optimist. One thing intriguing to me is that some subtle difference can be the determining factor of whether one gets just a healthy plant or one that would also bloom.

So, for those who are curious about it too, here is how I kept the same orchid happy but never bloom for years. I potted the same Paph with a mixture of lava rocks and pine bark. It was watered with rain water and occasionally fed with some fertilizer. I used tap water on it only last winter. It was kept under trees in growing season (50-90°F) and in subbasement in winter (52°F). The plant was always exposed to some sunlight.

First I thought a much warmer climate in NM could also be a trigger, but Optimist has a division that didn't bloom. Yes.. we all wish that orchids can just tell us why sometimes they would have a change of heart...

[Optimist]

Pen, I tend to think that the reason that it bloomed was hard water.