Paph insigne f. sanderianum

[emydura]

At first I thought it was a straight insigne and it may still turn out that way, but the petals look so helenae at this early stage. The pouch says insigne.

That is funny because when I look at it I'm amazed how dominant helenae is.

 

[wjs2nd]

Here is a picture of a sanderae from Orchid Inn. It looks very close to what I have. http://www.orchidinnusa.com/template.jsp?page=photo.jsp&id=65
Helenaes appear to have rounded pouches and insignes have pointed pouches.

 

[emydura]

It doesn't look the same to my eyes. I will bet London to a brick it has helenae in it. The dorsal on yours is too flat for an insigne. That is all helenae. The petal stance is totally helenae as well. The flower and the plant looks very small - again helenae. The flowers on insigne sanderianum are gigantic. Way bigger than a normal insigne. If the flower is as small as the photo suggests then it can't be an insigne sanderianum.

 

[wjs2nd]

I do agree with your stance on it's dorsal and petal appearance. How does it compare to a sanderae? It maybe a sanderae that got mis-marked as a sanderianum.

 

[emydura]

I do agree with your stance on it's dorsal and petal appearance. How does it compare to a sanderae? It maybe a sanderae that got mis-marked as a sanderianum.

Sanderae and sanderianum are basically the same except sanderae has a few very tiny spots on the dorsal. I have a sanderae myself.

 

[tomkalina]

Not sure what it is, but it looks like it has helenae in it. Here's a photo of our Paph. insigne var sanderianum 'Fox Valley' AM-CHM/AOS for comparison. As the flower ages, it goes from green/white to golden yellow/white.

 

[Ozpaph]

They dont look alike to me.

 

[wjs2nd]

Thank you for the comparison picture Tom. I would differently say Tom's picture, although close, appears to confirm that my orchid has some helenae in it. The Orchid Inn picture isn't exact either, it has a some-what-similar shape to its' petals; However, it's petals are still wavey and mine have not gotten wavey. Sofar each petal has just one wave in it near the tip. There is, also, a very slight twist near the tip too. I'll post pictures soon. I want to let the bloom age some more.

 

[JeanLux]

Tom, that one looks really ... beautiful!!!! Jean

 

[wjs2nd]

update with pictures

Well it's been open for a week now. The shape has changed. The dorsal has re-curved back. The petals have twisted, facing downwards, and they have become wavy. The pouch has become more yellowish, the petals and dorsal are still more greenish.

 

[labskaus]

The flower is too large for helenae, plus helenae doesn't have (almost non-existing) spots on the dorsal. The first pics looked a lot like helenae, but now I think this is a deformed flower on an insigne that wasn't quite ready to bloom.

 

[SlipperKing]

The flower is too large for helenae, plus helenae doesn't have (almost non-existing) spots on the dorsal. The first pics looked a lot like helenae, but now I think this is a deformed flower on an insigne that wasn't quite ready to bloom.

It is indeed a weak plant. one fan, 3 leaves. maybe you're right in that it's just a deformed insigne

 

[Ozpaph]

cut the flower and see what happens next flowering

 

[wjs2nd]

I'm going to cut the flower soon. When I got it, the plant was pretty close to blooming. I figured if it was going to bloom it's self to death (it spent energy already making the bloom) it'll do it no matter what.

 

[GuRu]

I'm going to cut the flower soon.....

Immediatly - that's the best you can do !