Paphiopedilum delenatii
 

Quite a few of these are coming into bloom now... this is a nice form with HUGE petals... unfortunately, my cat got to the flower before it could be photographed, so there are a few bite marks (the bite on the right petal looks like a smiley face)... ;)

Paphiopedilum delenatii
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/S5001102.jpg

-Pat

Gorgeous!!! :drool: Very nice! The plant itself seems so small and is already blooming! Amazing! How old is your plant? Is it its first blooming? I have paph. deperle that looks a bit like yours. Not only flowers but leaves as well.:cheer:

:banana: Excellent shape to that one!

Yea, it's very pretty. Mine's getting ready to open up, any day now.

If it were furniture those bite marks would be considered character, it's still a beauty though Pat.

Is it fragrant? What is its background....newer Vietnamese clones, or line-bred from the original? I have found that many of the newer clones have little to no fragrance...the old line clones can be very fragrant...Take care, Eric

Eric,

Yes, this one is definitely newer breeding... there isn't a fragrance at all. My other, older Paph. delenatii (from the "single-origin" generation) has lots of fragrance.

Out of curiosity, have you bred the older type with the newer type? If so, what's the outcome with vigor, coloration, and fragrance?

Thanks again,
-Pat

PS: the blooming growth has a few VERY tiny leaves and is an inch or so tall... it's a weird one... ;)

I haven't done any breeding myself, but I'm sure that crosses have been made between the new and old lines. I have also found that the newer clones tend to be much smaller plants, for the most part. However, I have had 2 clones from the "Pink Balloon" cross...one is very small, and has no fragrance at all. The other was (note the past tense...) a large plant, with a large bloom, and had a noticeable fragrance..much better plant. Of course, the crappy little one survived....On a fragrance note, Dennis D'Allessandro was once selling some delanatii that had been selctively bred just for fragrance, in Germany. I never got one of those plants...Take care, Eric