Paphiopedilum fairrieanum f. bohlmannianum

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Rightly so, not true album therefore the varietal name Bohlmaniannum is used, indicating a continuum range of alboviride to albescents (pinkish margins).
Leslie, here you are barking up the wrong tree: fma. bohlmannianum IS the botanical name for the albino form (what people tend to call 'album') of fairrieanum, i.e. the colour form without any trace of anthocyanin!
Anyone in doubt of that, please, consult O. Gruß: "Genus Paphiopedilum - Albino Forms"!
 
Leslie, here you are barking up the wrong tree: fma. bohlmannianum IS the botanical name for the albino form (what people tend to call 'album') of fairrieanum, i.e. the colour form without any trace of anthocyanin!
Anyone in doubt of that, please, consult O. Gruß: "Genus Paphiopedilum - Albino Forms"!
Your are right Jen’s… but… it is not true album (defines as white only) but alboviride in true coloration. And also the reddish margins are accepted in judging as this varietal name so therefore not ‘true’ album in any sense of the word.

Olaf will back me on this I’m sure lol.
 
Rightly so, not true album therefore the varietal name Bohlmaniannum is used, indicating a continuum range of alboviride to albescents (pinkish margins).
can you please explain - i thought fma bohlmannianum was used for the pigmentation free green forma - and any pink tinge made it a standard fairreanum - am i wrong?
 
Your are right Jen’s… but… it is not true album (defines as white only) but alboviride in true coloration. And also the reddish margins are accepted in judging as this varietal name so therefore not ‘true’ album in any sense of the word.
Olaf will back me on this I’m sure lol.
If you read my post carefully, you would see, that I very deliberately used the term 'albino', not the erroneously 'album', to clearly denote, that we are not talking about an all white flower, but a colourform with no anthocyanin pigmentation.
I don't know, what strange decisions are made in judging, but botanically speaking fma. bohlmannianum is the form with no red pigmentation what so ever! (And if you read Gruß - and Braem for that matter, this would be their unequivocal stance)
can you please explain - i thought fma bohlmannianum was used for the pigmentation free green forma - and any pink tinge made it a standard fairreanum - am i wrong?
Technically speaking the green parts of the flower of fma. bohlmannianum contains pigmentation, namely chlorophyll. Any pink tinge though, even the slightest speck of red colour (anthocyanin pigment) would just deem the flower/plant a pale form of the typical one.

PS. What really makes the concept of albinism inconceivable is the fact, that several albino plants have been described botanically as 'album' (all white), even though not being all white. Plants that we today would designate as alboflavum (white-yellow) or alboviride (white-green).
Being 'described botanically' means published legitimately (i.e. according to the rules of the International Code for Botanical Nomenclature), seemingly no matter whether the designation is wholly apt!
 
Ah you did indeed Jens lol my bad.

Paphiopedilum are male forms so albino is not a varietal applied to this genus unfortunately. Only album is used taxonomically I think (if my memory is not as fuzzy as I think).

There was somewhere mentioned by both Olaf and Koopowitz in books/articles/emails that this bohlmannianum can sometimes breed pink tinges (and vice versa, true alboviride albums appear when selfed). They have not separated them into the type form as of yet. Not sure about Braeme but these updates are not in the references you mentioned.

I do agree that any pink in a described album form disqualifies them in the category though but as the way things are, they are here to stay.

Let’s see what the experts say.
 
"Albino: by botanical definition, a plant that lacks the possibility to produce anthocyanin pigments ..... Therefore, a plant correctly designated as an albino will not show any red or brown colour but can very well be green, yellow, white or any combination thereof. As soon as any shade of red occurs in any part of the plant, the specimen is not an albino" (Braem, Charon, Öhlund: The Genus Paphiopedilum, 2nd Edition, p. 44. Dehra Dun, 2016).

Braem gives the following description of P. fairreanum fma. bohlmannianum: "This is a well-known albino, which was originally described as P. fairreanum var. bohlmannianum in July of 1942. It is often erroneously referred to as 'P. fairreanum var. album' in horticultural circles. The flowers however are not white, but yellow to yellowish-green with darker green veining. There are several different clones of this true albino. The plants are usually smaller than those of the typical form and rather difficult to grow. Unfortunately, plants have been awarded as "var. album" by the American Orchid Society [so much for judging! Jens] and were described (though invalidly) as Paphiopedilum fairreanum var. flavum (Orchid Digest, 42 [4]: 151-158 [1978])".

As to whether Djthomp's very beautiful flowers (remember the flowers?!) adhere to Braem's description, would depend on the exact colour of the veining on the staminodal shield: if the darker part of this veining is made up of only very, very dark green, we're home free; if any kind of red/purple contributes to the darker coloured parts, we have left the realm of bohlmannianum. But as it is such a close run, I think one would have to give the plant and flowers a closer inspection with the bare eyes and in natural light!
 
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Lastly, a final word on judging: Professor Braem is a very meticulous man. In his "Notes on albinism' he presents the result of "[a] quick browse through their combined awards index for 1937-1997", that reveals, "that the judges of the American Orchid Society have awarded plants as variety album or forma album for 13 Paphiopedilum species. Of those 13, only three (P. bellatulum, P. concolor and P. niveum) can have pure white flowers [sic!] (ibid., p. 44).
 
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Yes DJ beautiful flowers lol.

Let’s have the taxonomists argue semantics.

The AOS system is composed of humans, and ‘to err is human’ lol.

I would just put in practice these types in brackets as (albinistic types) or (bohlmannianum types). Or even (alboviride types).

Incidentally all judging systems are flawed if we put a fine tooth comb through it. Pointing fingers in a glass house is dangerous lol.

Good discussion Jens.
 
The name bohlmannianum was used in the original description for a true albino without any pink or red coloration. Here you find the descriptionm written in 1942 in Germany. Her also a Paph. fairrieanum forma bohlmannianum .Sometimes you can find plants with a pink flush in trade. Here also 2 examples,. In Japan I couls ee abigger groupa as a result of the cross betweent the typical form and the forma bohlmannianum.
The pinkflushed cannot be named as forma bohlmannianum, but you can mae it for yourself as 'vierescens'.
 

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Only the true greenish white forma can be named as bohlmannianum, how you can read in the official description in 1942 in Germany. There you can read that the flower is white with green veins without any red or pink coloration. Here the description and a typical exampel.
But there are also plants with more or less pink or red coloration bit a pale greenish color of the plant and a green flower with more or less pink hue or coloration. The plants cannot be named as forma bohlmannianum. You can name your clone as 'virescens' but only as a part of the clonal name not as a official name. Here some examples.
In Japan I have seen a group of these plantes as a result of the cross between fairrieanum f. bohlmannnianum and the typical form.
Best greetings
Olaf
 

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Thank you Olaf for taking the time to answer.

I also communicated with Dr. Guido Braem. And he concluded as such.

So Jens, your research and steadfastness paid off. Kudos to an exciting discussion.
 
My plant came home yesterday. Here are some pictures in what passes for natural light here in Northeast Ohio. There is certainly some pink hue present.

20221008_092731.jpg
 

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