Beautifully mottled leaves!
 

I am posting pictures of leaves of some of my maudiae paphs (namely, hybrids with Napa Valley in it, some Hsinying Alien, Lawrencianum&Hsinying Citron cross), and two other hybrids.
Sometimes I just buy them because I like the leaves.

I never get tired of looking at them!
Some of these pictures were taken from underneath the leaves as you can tell, and that I think is also very beautiful.

Some of the pictures show emergin flower sheath in the center of the growth, some show new leaf forming in the form of dark shade.

I am yet to post some more pictures of vinis showing their very dark sheath coming out of bright green and silver leaves. That is striking to me!

Hope you all enjoy! :)

Ok, one of the pictures below is of a spotted complex paph. don't like their plain leaves as much, but I'm excited about the new leaf coming out and a tiny new fan. ;)

Very beautiful, even without buds or flowers! For someone who hates spotted Onc. leaves so much, I am surprised you like these "spots" so much:rofl:

I like beautiful green spots, but not ugly dark spots. hehehe

I actually didn't like these paphs' leaves at first either. It took me a while to develop the taste. lol
Now I love them enough to buy just for the leaves sometimes (when I see something I find very attractive, I just go for it)

I'm totally with you on the "spotted leaves"-thingy. There's a reason why most of my Paph collection consists of barbata types. If you want beautiful foliage you really should get a venustum. The flower might not be the prettiest around, but the foliage!

Let's see if I have any photo of one of my venustum's leaves... Yup, found it. :biggrin:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ves-venus1.jpg

I love the patterns on those leaves. They all look very healthy and well grown.

My vote for the prettiest mottled leaves going to P. delenatii v. dunkel. The normal form has nice leaves too. Hoping to get dunkel and alba varieties from Orchid Inn at the upcoming show.

Here's some mottled leaf pictures...

Regular form of delenatii
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2dc08940.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1c0ba134.jpg

With light shining through the bottom of one side
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7977fd3f.jpg

Paph. Magical Venus
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps18fafe20.jpg

Paph. gratrixianum seedling, it's also starting a new leaf
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2c054053.jpg

I personally LOVE venustum, although I haven't found exact flower form I like. I didn't know there were a few different forms. makes it hard to choose and find!
No offense, but I think that leaf reminds me of a snake skin pattern and gives me a goosebump (in a not good way). :shock:
Do they all have leaf patterns like this?

By the way, barbata I hear is tough to grow. How are yours coming along??

---------- Post added at 02:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 AM ----------

Dunkel means dark in German, so is delenatii dunkel the one with darker red lip than most??

Also, the leaves on the regular delenatii are much brighter than ones I've seen. I almost thought it was of the alba form. Regardless, very beautiful :)

By the way, the last one with spotts all over, is that normal of that species? I love the flowers of gratirxianum though.
It also give me chill (in a bad way, but no offense, just my reaction to it).
Thanks for sharing!

---------- Post added at 02:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 AM ----------

Thank you! :)

Thd venustum leaf reminded me of snake skin too.

Yes, dunkel is the darker form of delenatii. I think it is actually named of dark German beer and is also know as vinicolor, which means wine colored. The cross of that delenatii is 'Half & Half' x 'dunkie #6'. So what does 'Half and Half' mean? Don't know. Could mean half alba half regular, half alba half dunkel, ect.

The base and underside of the leaves of gratrixianum usually have those spots. Some are more spotted and some are more solidly colored.

Ok, so I'm not the only person then. :)

The spots...That is very interesting. It's good to know that it's normal for that plant.
If I had that plant, I would still get startled to see those dark spots every morning. lol

They do have lovely flowers though!

By the way, does your delenatii have fragrance? If so, what does it smell like and how strong is it?
My armeni white has no scent.

Haha! Yes, I've heard the pattern on the venustum leaves be likened to that of a snake skin. I personally don't think so, but, on the other hand, I like snakes too, so that wouldn't stop me. :D

Oh, they are supposed to be good beginner Paphs (beside the hybrids such as Maudiae) according to the experts. I did run into some trouble when the humidity level fell because of colder temperatures, but with another humidifier, it seems they are doing okay now. :biggrin:

Last year it almost bloomed for the first time, it had just barely started to open until I knocked both the buds off. I'm anxiously waiting for a bud this year. Last year it appeared on January 30. I'm really wanting to find out if it is fragrant or not.

Well, if you like them, that's what matters. ;)

So they are easy. I think I read somewhere that they are sensitive to something, like cooler period or extra humidity, don't remember.

I like the color combo on the flower. The contrast of lightly colored dorsal and the dark pouch!
I've been searching for a nicely colored and formed (to my eyes, of course) paph.Petula. but then one of my Hsinying Alien seedlings recently opened up and it looks very nice and a great substitue for patula I've been wanting to have.

---------- Post added at 12:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

Isn't that frustrating? I knocked off a growing bud on my armeni white last month. Now it looks like the next mature fan is going to send up a spike soon. or so I wish.