mini- or micropaphs?
 

hey ob...

so just wondering if micro paphs exist, and if anyone knows any species examples? i ask because we just got a couple more species in and one, paph thaianum has a flower growing but it is absolutely tiiiiiny. i should post a pic, and perhaps i will follow up if there are questions...but is that normal? online i read various descriptions that have the flowers small, but not as small as what we see. if it bloomed tomorrow it would have a spread of less than a cm.

now, the flower is still inbud, but it has already extended well past the sheath and is starting to open a bit, so i don’t expect it to increase in size a whole bunch....even in bud it was waaaay, way smaller than “normal” paph buds.

any input is welcomed...thanks in advance!

edit to add a pic. that is my pinky nail

Attachment 161103

First, wait until the bud opens, it could surprise you. It's going to be more than a cm for sure. Paph helenae is definitely little... Paph spicerianum is quite small. Search for "Teacup Paphiopedilum" and you 'll find a bunch of little ones, both species and hybrids. Patience... Orchids in general don't do anything fast, and Paphs are some of the slowwwest .

I remember visiting Hadley Cash and seeing about 6 plants in a 4" pot, each having past flower spikes, but none had a total leaf span of more than 3 cm.

He suspected they were super-small P. helenae.

Paphiopedilum tranlienianum is a true mini. I have one from orchid inn budded a few months ago and just starting to put on a little weight. Post pics of mine when its opend.

Has flowers about the size of a man's thumb up to 6cm :)

https://orchidroots.com/static/utils..._000147280.jpg


paph thaianum do also have smallish flowers. the more light you can give them the larger the flowers will be. size of most depend on how happy they were grown. Bloom: 3-5 cm wide. Yours has a long way to go. The multifloral paphs, the more floral it is the smaller they will get. Had a Paph Pinocchio bloomed itself out of existence :)

hey, thanks for the input, e’rybody. looks like we have a couple more species to track down :biggrin:

Are you looking for species where the plant is small or species with small flowers?

well, tbh just thinking of breeding possibilities in the future and learning more about paphs. sooo...either?! :biggrin:

personally not a huge fan of tiny flower orchids, but i realize all things have their place and it blooms interests me just to think of possibilities....