Not Paph. parishii ?

[gore42]

I've been waiting patiently for this parishii to open, and now, I think it was mislabeled.

I bought this one here on the forum several months ago, but it has a Ratcliffe tag on it, marking it as "Paph. parishii sp." It's not the largest plant, so I was expecting just a couple of small, perhaps poorly colored and mishapen blooms

This is what is opening.

As it began to open, I saw the dark spots on the proximal sections of the petals, and thought that looked right for parishii. Then as it opened more, the color on the pouch struck me as unusual... then the petal coloration...

Now, I'm assuming that it's just a dianthum. Anyone want to confirm or deny?

- Matt

 

[Roy]

Matt, maybe what you have is P. dianthum x parishii. It seems to have a bit of both but more dianthum in it.

Roy.

 

[goldenrose]

Whatever it may be, I like it, the color is very nice!

 

[slippertalker]

This flower definitely has the character of Paph dianthum. With a few more days, the petals will twist a bit more and the flower will grow in size. The color of the pouch and petals is certainly within the concept of Paph dianthum. There are forms with similar coloration.

Some people consider Paph dianthum to be a subspecies of Paph parishii, so the tag isn't entirely out of line.

 

[Frederick]

Why

don't you ask Paul Philips (Ratcliffe)? He belongs to this forum (British Bulldog I believe). He will be back from the US and South Africa after the South African show.

In any case I love the pink suffusion of the pouch & petals.
Happy growing
Frederick

 

[Rick]

I think a big diagnostic character is fuzzyness of the stem and ovary for parrishii, and little to no hairs for dianthum. I'll check the books when I get home.

 

[rdlsreno]

Looks like Paph. dianthum due to the few flower, thin spike and angular lower part of the staminode.

Ramon

 

[Rick]

I think a big diagnostic character is fuzzyness of the stem and ovary for parrishii, and little to no hairs for dianthum. I'll check the books when I get home.

I checked on the hairiness issue and the stem and ovary of parrishii is very fuzzy.

 

[toddybear]

Great shot but I agree its more like dianthum

 

[gore42]

From the beginning, the stem didn't look like parishii... but it was also a very small spike on a small plant, so I was discounting it due to the age.

Now, the bloom is just about fully developed, and it is quite clearly a dianthum. A pretty one, but not a parishii I should have guessed when it spiked at the same time as my other two dianthums.

- Matt

 

[gore42]

OK, just thought I'd post an update of this thing. Still looks like dianthum to me, but it may be a dianthum x parishii or similar.

I like the twists in the petals, and the color is nice... I just which there was some way for me to verify what it is for sure. Maybe I'll contact Ratcliffe when I get a chance, see what they have to say on the subject.


- Matt

 

[Heather]

I think dianthum. Hard to come by these days, I'm sure you could find someone to take it off your hands should that day come...

 

[goldenrose]

I think it's great! I'll take it off your hands!

 

[SlipperFan]

...and as always, great photo!

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

must be dianthum....too much color for parishii. Eric

 

[NYEric]

besseae?