Cypripedium macranthos Kamanshi

[fundulopanchax]

Flowers of Cyp macranthos from the Kamanshi region of Japan tend to have remarkably bright coloration. Here is the first to bloom of several seedlings I received a few years ago. The pod was said to originate from Mt. Kamanashi. I am told the area has been heavily logged and indigenous plants are no longer to be found. For hybrid registration purposes, these plants would be called Cyp macranthos var hotei-atsumorianum.

In photos, many of these flowers is reddish and some vary to a dark chocolate-burgundy. This one is a very bright purple color, even more purple than the image indicates. There is no hint of magenta. I tried three cameras and used a white-grey-black card with low flash to get this image, which is the closest to real.

The plant bloomed about three weeks later than my other macranthos. I was told that this is one of the hallmarks of Kamanashi.

Ron

 

[Drorchid]

Very nice :drool::drool:

That color is one of the hardest to capture on film. We have some Phals, that are that color, and I always have a hard time getting a picture showing the right color.

Robert

 

[NYEric]

Thanx for sharing Ron. If you want you can borrow my camera!

 

[likespaphs]

wow!

 

[wojtek]

Fantastic color !

 

[Shiva]

Ron! This is the most beautiful cyp I've seen so far.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Very nice Ron, thanks for posting. Is the flower larger than most macranthos you've seen, especially the lip? These guys are near ghosts on Honshu nowadays with the last larger populations occurring on Hokkaido - no doubt habitat disruption has played a big role, but collecting pressure has probably done at least as much damage.

 

[luvsorchids]

All I can say is :drool::clap::drool::smitten::smitten:.

Susan

 

[SlipperFan]

In photos, many of these flowers is reddish and some vary to a dark chocolate-burgundy. This one is a very bright purple color, even more purple than the image indicates. There is no hint of magenta. I tried three cameras and used a white-grey-black card with low flash to get this image, which is the closest to real.

I don't understand this statement. Ron, what color is purple for you?

On a pigment color wheel, purple (also called violet) is half way between red and blue. On the light color wheel this color is called magenta. There is a very good set of diagrams of these two color wheels here:
http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/design/color.htm

To my eye, the photo shown here is very magenta. I'm not trying to be a problem, I'm just trying to understand this statement and to know what color the flower really is. It's really pretty.

 

[biothanasis]

Impressive colour indeed!!!!

 

[PaphMadMan]

I don't understand this statement. Ron, what color is purple for you?

On a pigment color wheel, purple (also called violet) is half way between red and blue. On the light color wheel this color is called magenta. There is a very good set of diagrams of these two color wheels here:
http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/design/color.htm

To my eye, the photo shown here is very magenta. I'm not trying to be a problem, I'm just trying to understand this statement and to know what color the flower really is. It's really pretty.

I think magenta is generally recognized as a redder or pinker color than purple. The 2 color diagrams in your link show this difference, at least on my monitor, and flower matches the violet more closely than the magenta. Since everyone's color perception is different, and every monitor shows colors differently, it becomes subjective to compare someone's words to the image as you see it. For me, the statement that the flower is purple not magenta is quite helpful in understanding the true color of the flower.

 

[fundulopanchax]

Hi, Tom and Dot,

The flower is a very nice size. I have other (very colorful) mac's with flowers as large but it is larger than most mac's; much larger than any mac alba's I have or have seen.

I know I dont describe color well, Dot. Magenta to me is exactly the color that your color wheel labels as such and Cyp "Spirit of Violet" is a very nice example of a flower of exactly that color. When I say purple, I mean something much closer to blue, ie without noticeable reddish coloration - to me magenta has a lot of red in it. The color is exactly like a "purple" plum or grape Kool-Aide. Not specific I know. The image here has more noticeable red than the actual flower but is pretty close. All of my cameras capture it as more reddish than it actually is but using the white-grey-black card and clicking those in photoshop, this one is reasonably close.

Ron

 

[SlipperFan]

I hope you don't mind, Ron. I hear what you are saying, and I needed to see the color wheels next to your flower, which I see as very magenta (or violet, depending on the wheel of choice:

Is this more like your description of "purple"? Purple to me is a description of "blue-violet" whereas magenta, I agree, pigment wise, is a red-violet.

 

[jewel]

ron, could i get a full plant pic please? it appears the plant is quite short. stunning flower by the way:clap::drool::smitten: that's one of my favorite flower colors.

 

[Rick]

Beautiful flower Ron.

Are you cranking out lots of seedlings of this clone?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Love the color wheel comparison Dot!

I know what you mean Ron, I have two plants that I can never capture correctly on film, a velvety "purple" minicatt and a particular peloric form of Bletilla striata that has that same deep velvety vibrant purple. No matter what I do, the pics always end up looking too red and after repeated manipulations I cannot quite get the original color - not even on my monitor (lord knows about anybody else's!)

 

[fundulopanchax]

ron, could i get a full plant pic please? it appears the plant is quite short. stunning flower by the way:clap::drool::smitten: that's one of my favorite flower colors.

I didnt shoot the entire plant while it was in flower. I measured it yesterday. It is 7 inches tall so it is among my shortest mac's. I find that they continue to get bigger each year for the first few blooming years. Most are only about 10 inches tall, though.

Ron