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Awoke this morning to 32°F, and lots of hoar
frost on the lawn. This was not the first frost however, that came on
October 19, which is the average date for the first frost in our area. We
have had a cool fall up to this date and must be the reason that the Paph
house is "bursting with buds". I even noticed, when I was watering the other
day, that some of the Lefty Kei look like they are putting up a spike
already, strange. Normally we see the complex greens, yellows and
whites budding up first about this time then later in January the spotted
and reds begin to spike. This year everything is spiking at the same time. |
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You can see from the pictures above that P. malipoense has an elegant flower
with green sepals and petals and varying intensity of brown tesselation. It is
highly prized for its sweet apple or raspberry scent. The plant itself is also
very attractive with dark and light green checkered leaves, spotted
purple-violet underneath. The inflorescence is very tall and the flower takes a
long time to develop and open. It is allied to P. micranthum and P. armenicacum.
Curiously, it was first
collected in 1947 near Malipo in SE Yunnan, China near the Vietnamese border but
not described until 1984. It created quite a stir in 1984 when a large number of
wild collected plants appeared in a Hong Kong market. Many plants were exported
from China but its natural distribution and habitat remained unclear for a long
time. Recent information indicates it is one of the most widespread slipper
orchid species on limestone in southern China and northern Vietnam existing as a
lithophyte in some areas.
Some very helpful
cultural information comes from a study of the climatological conditions in its
natural habitat. It is often found growing in deep shade on north or north-east
facing, steep rocky limestone cliffs. The climate in these areas are
characterized as monsoon tropical with cold winters and warm set summers. The
coldest months are December and January when night temps may fall to near
freezing. A colony of P. malipoense spreads by long creeping stolons, in some
areas forming a continuous cover.
As I mentioned above the
development of the inflorescence (up to 25 inches tall) and the flower may take
a couple of months. In nature the buds appear in September-October but then the
low temperatures of November-December stop their development. They continue to
develop and open with the first sign of spring warmth in March-April.
Their are three variants
of this species, P. malipoense var. malipoense (4 pictured above); P. malipoense
var. jackii; and P. malipoense var. hiepii (pictured below).
 P. malipoense var. jackii |
 P. malipoense var. jackii |
 Paph. malipoense var. hiepii |
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There are approximately 150 F1 hybrids using P. malipoense, several of which have a lasting popularity. For example, P. Lynnleigh Koopowitz (x delenatii), Ma Belle (x bellatulum), Mem. Larry Heuer (x emersonii), Norito Hasegawa (x armenicacum), Fanaticum (x micranthum), Harold Koopowitz (x rothschildianum) Jade Dragon (x fairrieanum). Interesting to note that all of these also have received 20 or more awards while the others received none or very few. There is a new one on the block which has no history but I think is going to be popular and awarded and that is P. Yakushiji (x wenshanense). This is the blooming time of the species and one can predict the blooming time of these hybrids by looking at the other parent, i.e. if the other parent blooms closely to the time of the malipoense parent the hybrid will bloom now. Examples are Norito Hasegawa, Yakushiji, Jade Dragon, Ma Belle. If the other parent does not bloom at the same time as P. malipoense and dominates the hybrid it will bloom at the time of the other parent, e.g. Lynnleigh Koopowiz, Harold Koopowitz, and Fanaticum. |
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Below are several of the hybrids mentioned above. We have lots of Norito Hasegawa, Yakushiji, and Jade Dragon in bud at this time. We have all of the others but not in bud right now. Well that's probably more than you ever wanted to know about this green species so I will stop for now. Have a great Thanksgiving, John |
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 P. Norito Hasegawa |
 P. Jade Dragon |
 P. Fanaticum |
 P. Ma Belle |
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