Paphiopedilum Gallery One

Paphiopedilum tonsum
(Reichenbach f.) Stein (1892.)

According to undubtedly the best contemporary orchid book:
"Discovered on the mountains of Sumatra, by Curtis, who collected it, unknown to himself at the time, mixed with Cypripedium Curtisii; botanically it is, however, nearer C. javanicum than the species with which it is locally associated. The specific name tonsum, "shorn," refers to the absence of the black marginal hairs that fringe the petals of the species included in the subsection of the genus (C. venustum, etc.) to which it belongs."

Veitch, J. & Sons: A Manual of Orchidaceous Plants cultivated under glass in Great Britain
London, James Veitch & Sons, (1887-94.)

    P. javanicum and P. tonsum are endemic to Java and Sumatra - respectively - which means that the two species can never occur associated in their natural habitats. The misinformation in the quoted text is good example of the secretiveness of orchid hunters concerning the true habitats of orchids with horticultural potential.

   In Sumatra P. tonsum grows often in association with P. liemianum and the two species offer particularly educative example of how different environmental requirements two orchids growing in the vicinity of each other may have.
   As that was described about P. liemianum, that species grows firmly attached to limestone rock surfaces, while P. tonsum grows at the foot of those rocks in deep shade and feets deep humus, never attached to the stone surfaces.

   P. tonsum reacts dramatically to different light levels: growth habit, leaf patterns, flower color all change at high light levels. So much that extravagant individuals found in exposed habitats were believed to be natural hybrids or completely different species.

	Paphiopedilum purpuratum (Lindley) Stein (1892.)
	Native to Hong Kong and adjacent areas of Guangdong Province on the mainland and Hainan Island. It is the third Paphiopedilum species introduced into European cultivation around 1836 by J. Knight of the Royal Exotic Nursery, following P. insigne and P. venustum by an almost 20 years delay. In its areal P. purpuratum occurs between 100 ft to 2,000 ft elevation and prefers cool climate. There the maximum summer temperature seldom exceeds 27 ºC and in winter below-zero temperatures may occur. The preferred microhabitats are North or Northwest-facing slopes exposed to the cold and dry north winds blowing from China during the fall and winter; consequently, its microhabitats are protected from the wet and warm East and South Pacific winds in summer. The average light intensity in these habitats is around 700 footcandle, which means dense shadow and the atmospheric humidity is between 70 to 80 percent saturation. There are many famous, popular hybrids that have been produced using this species as one of the parents.

	Paphiopedilum callosum (Reichenbach f.) Stein (1892.)
	Paphiopedilum callosum is a widespread and, hence, rather variable species ocurring in Indochina and Malaysia. The more-or-less distinct local varieties were described as P. birkii, P. thailandensis, P. sublaeve, etc. either as varieties or elevated to species rank, resulting in long-lasting debates among orchid taxonomists. When it was introduced in Europe in 1885 the main attraction of this species was the prominent upper sepal, comparable only to those of P. lawrenceanum, imported to Europe in 1878. Hybridizers soon crossed the two species, resulting in P. X Maudiae, one of the commercially most succesful orchid hybrids in the history of cultivating orchids.