paphiopedilum fairrieanum alba ?

[sastry]

Hi
I just wanted to confirm whether this is Paph. fairrieanym alba?
Thanks
sastry

 

[silence882]

A taxonomist would tell you it is Paph. fairrieanum because it still has some red pigments.

I've seen a lot of fairrieanums like yours for sale as fairrieanum albescens.

 

[PaphMadMan]

The form of Paph fairrieanum lacking red pigmentation was formally described as forma bohlmannianum, or var. bohlmannianum originally, not var. album. There are no other validly published varieties or forms, so putting a word like album or albescens after fairrieanum is not correct usage.

This does appear to have some slight red pigmentation, so it is not forma bohlmannianum, and it is not an alba form. It could be described as albescent, just don't put a Latin-form word after fairrieanum.

 

[Hamlet]

I'm just a hobbyist and no taxonomist, but what's the point of giving an albino flower a fancy name instead of just calling it var. album? Shouldn't taxonomists want some consistency in the naming of varieties, e.g. simply calling all albino forms album? Same with kolopakingii var. katherinae, why not just name it kolopakingii var. album so everyone knows that it's an albino form without having to look at photos of it first. Seems rather silly to me

 

[PaphMadMan]

It is a means for the taxonomist to honor or recognize someone who contributed to or supported their work. Traditionally, in the days of the large scale plant hunters it would often be a financial backer. Now it is more likely to have less monetary motivation.

One reason to avoid using var. album (more commonly forma album now since it is usually a minor genetic difference within a population) is that prior informal, not validly published use of the term can cause confusion, perhaps even invalidate a publication.

Or, if the albino plants actually are a discrete population that may also vary in other traits, focusing on the albino characteristic would trivialize the true nature of the variety.

 

[SlipperFan]

It boils down to, if it has color pigment, it isn't an album. Nice flower anyway.

 

[Hamlet]

It is a means for the taxonomist to honor or recognize someone who contributed to or supported their work. Traditionally, in the days of the large scale plant hunters it would often be a financial backer. Now it is more likely to have less monetary motivation.

One reason to avoid using var. album (more commonly forma album now since it is usually a minor genetic difference within a population) is that prior informal, not validly published use of the term can cause confusion, perhaps even invalidate a publication.

Or, if the albino plants actually are a discrete population that may also vary in other traits, focusing on the albino characteristic would trivialize the true nature of the variety.

Thank you very much for your answer. I hadn't thought of your first point. That makes sense. I was just wondering why not more descriptive names were used.

This flower is beautiful anyway!