Paph villosum fma aureum (*)

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DirGo

having a soft spot for albino slipper species
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(*) bought as this albino form but on flowering sadly it got "botanically disqualified as albino" for having small anthocyanin (red) dots - also I was hoping for the aureum with full yellow flag, but it is the one with white rim. I still love it very much and for sure it deserves a place in my collection!

villosum aureum.jpg
 
(*) bought as this albino form but on flowering sadly it got "botanically disqualified as albino" for having small anthocyanin (red) dots - also I was hoping for the aureum with full yellow flag, but it is the one with white rim. I still love it very much and for sure it deserves a place in my collection!

View attachment 38040
Beautiful golden embrace.
 
Thanks for all nice comments !!

The reason I "disqualified" it as albino was due to the red villi or soft hairs covering the peduncle, ovary, and parts of the flower, so typical for identifying villosum as species.
Two more detailed pictures attached.

But as already shared, I will keep it for sure. Sorry Istvan ;-)
20230126_120147.jpg20230126_120154.jpg
 
Thanks for all nice comments !!

The reason I "disqualified" it as albino was due to the red villi or soft hairs covering the peduncle, ovary, and parts of the flower, so typical for identifying villosum as species.
Two more detailed pictures attached.

But as already shared, I will keep it for sure. Sorry Istvan ;-)
View attachment 38072View attachment 38073
Damn....what a pity...😭
 
The pigmentation in the red hairs is not from carotenoids. It is from anthocyanins.
And I love these red haired green flowers even more than those pure albine ones! They are soo special!
 
Description of red/anthocyanine pigmentation on my plant:
Minimal red spots at the base of the leave sheets, much less than the normal form, but clearly present. Penduncle and ovary are light green, but all covered with lots of red hairs/villi. Base of the petals and backside of the inner lip are covered with red hairs/villi. All other plant and flower parts are green/white/yellow.

Definitions I found:
Strictly botanically "albino plants" are devoid of green chlorophyl pigment but within our slipper context I found two more interesting definitions:
Mr Gruss in "Genus Paphiopedilum Albino forms" p8: "A plant whose FLOWERS are devoid of any red pigmentation is traditionally termed an albino"
Mr Braem in "Notes on albinism" p5: "a PLANT that lacks the possibility to produce anthocyanin pigments" ... "As soon as any shade of red occurs anywhere in any part of the PLANT, the specimen is not an albino."

The view of "the-scientist-within-me"
I personally lean more towards the albino FLOWER definition, than the albino PLANT definition. For me, whenever there are red pigments on petals, sepals, lip, staminode, warts, villi... I tag it as 'botanically disqualified'. My villosum fails both definitions.
What I do in these cases; I keep the albino form name on the tag, but adding an (*) marking so I know I will not share any pollen or put seed on it and expect albino offspring.

The view of "the-amateur-within-me"
I just love this plant, I honestly don't care if it is albino or not. I love the red villi on all flower parts and belief it adds to it's beauty. It will stay a precious member of my family.

I know different people have different views and I respect those as well. Thanks for all nice comments!
 
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Description of red/anthocyanine pigmentation on my plant:
Minimal red spots at the base of the leave sheets, much less than the normal form, but clearly present. Penduncle and ovary are light green, but all covered with lots of red hairs/villi. Base of the petals and backside of the inner lip are covered with red hairs/villi. All other plant and flower parts are green/white/yellow.

Definitions I found:
Strictly botanically "albino plants" are devoid of green chlorophyl pigment but within our slipper context I found two more interesting definitions:
Mr Gruss in "Genus Paphiopedilum Albino forms" p8: "A plant whose FLOWERS are devoid of any red pigmentation is traditionally termed an albino"
Mr Braem in "Notes on albinism" p5: "a PLANT that lacks the possibility to produce anthocyanin pigments" ... "As soon as any shade of red occurs anywhere in any part of the PLANT, the specimen is not an albino."

The view of "the-scientist-within-me"
I personally lean more towards the albino FLOWER definition, than the albino PLANT definition. For me, whenever there are red pigments on petals, sepals, lip, staminode, warts, villi... I tag it as 'botanically disqualified'. My villosum fails both definitions.
What I do in these cases; I keep the albino form name on the tag, but adding an (*) marking so I know I will not share any pollen or put seed on it and expect albino offspring.

The view of "the-amateur-within-me"
I just love this plant, I honestly don't care if it is albino or not. I love the red villi on all flower parts and belief it adds to it's beauty. It will stay a precious member of my family.

I know different people have different views and I respect those as well. Thanks for all nice comments!
I will happily call it an albescent.
 
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