Paphiopedilum Gallery Three

Paphiopedilum hybrid
Maudiae 'Prieta' FCC/AOS

   Flower colors of P. 'Maudiae' hybrids range from greenish white to dark purple 'vinicolor' (vine-colored) forms.

   The original cross resulting in Paphiopedilum X Maudiae involved two unique mutants: the white mutants P. lawrenceanum "var. Hyeanum" Hort. and Paphiopedilum callosum "var. Sanderianum" Hort.

   The hybridizer was H. G. Alexander and the new hybrid was named in honor of Alexander's dughter. Naming an orchid in honor of a gardener's humble daughter was that far unheard of in the rigidly stratified society of Victorian Britain.

    The horticultural success of this early hybrid lies in the special growth habit of P. lawrenceanum: if space allows (if it is planted into a flower bed, as that at times happened in the greenhouses of the XIXth century horticultural establishments) it produces runners. Cutting the rhizome between the parent and the runners without uprooting the plants induces the production of new shots both on the parent and on mature enough runners as well.

   In this way it was (and still is!) easy to produce within a relatively short period large colonies of P. 'Maudiae' consisting of many growths.

   The red P. 'Maudiae' hybrids originate from another, also unique mutant: in this case the unusually dark Paph. lawrenceanum'Coloratum' was involved.

   The two parents had different, not matching chromosome numbers (32 and 40, respetively), which are distributed in the progeny in a wide variety of combinations.