Paphs in Burma

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rob

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I just returned from northern Burma, Myanmar if you prefer. I was able to meet with U Thein Aung, who was one of the Forestry Department heads in the newly established national parks in the north of the country and have tea and discuss paphs. He told me of the populations of Paph wardii and most interestingly that he saw Paph tigrinum growing mostly as an epyphite, growing best in the leaf litter in the crotch of a tree. This seems contrary to Cribb and company description. I was not able to see them as we were not far enough north and permits to travel in that region are hard to come by. At the national garden in Pyin Oo Lwin, several hundred miles to the south, I saw many wardii and bellatulums, parishii and charlesworthii, but few in bloom, except bellatulums. Most were poorly grown in straight soil and I was able to talk with the caretaker and advised that they need a faster draining mix. I don't know if it was lost in translation or not but their cultivation skills are limited. Still it was a thrill to be in the land of paphs.
Rob
 
That must have been interesting... We need pictures, please... :D Its sad but true that most uninformed growers in Southeast Asia think of paphs as true terrestrials like Spathoglotis, hence they grow them in soil, leading to the quick demise of the plant..
 
You are right that Cribb has tigrinum growing on the ground in Southern China, but I have seen references to this species growing high up in trees or at the base of trees (all in China though). I bet tigrinum in Burma/Myanmar is a range extension that has not been noted before.
 
Sounds like a great trip. It is a shame that areas are closed like that, but limited access tends to protect plants too. Any other information or photos would be wonderful...

How well studied is the flora of this country? Based on recent collections in adjacent areas in Yunnan, it looks like Cypripedium subtropicum could be growing there somewhere.
 
Burma does gets tourists, but only @200,000 a year and most are restricted to a tourist route. I believe that very few get permission to go to the extreme north, east and west. Frank Kingdon Ward, of paph wardii fame, botanized the area early in the 20th century and there has been some work done recently when Allen Rabinowitz of the WCS help to established 2 new parks up north in the last decade but I am not aware of what has been done in between. I had met one of the countries leading orchid authorities,U Kyaw Nyunt, back in 2000, and he was part of the last exploration with Rabinowitz. I was told he died last year. He had a beautiful collection of orchids and perhaps had the most knowledge of the orchids of his country.
The country has lots of orchids; Dendrobiums, Paphs, Vandas, Cymbidiums, Bulbophyllum, and many others and probably Cypripediums, although I have not seen or heard of them and it warrants further study. I am looking into the feasibility of a trip up north and I would also like to go to the eastern side but it is much more dangerous area. I hope that habitat destruction and collection will not make them only a memory. There is so much say about this place that my jet-lagged brain does not do it justice. I will try to post some pics from the gardens and markets next week after some rest.
Rob
 
I just returned from northern Burma, Myanmar if you prefer. I was able to meet with U Thein Aung, who was one of the Forestry Department heads in the newly established national parks in the north of the country and have tea and discuss paphs. He told me of the populations of Paph wardii and most interestingly that he saw Paph tigrinum growing mostly as an epyphite, growing best in the leaf litter in the crotch of a tree. This seems contrary to Cribb and company description. I was not able to see them as we were not far enough north and permits to travel in that region are hard to come by. At the national garden in Pyin Oo Lwin, several hundred miles to the south, I saw many wardii and bellatulums, parishii and charlesworthii, but few in bloom, except bellatulums. Most were poorly grown in straight soil and I was able to talk with the caretaker and advised that they need a faster draining mix. I don't know if it was lost in translation or not but their cultivation skills are limited. Still it was a thrill to be in the land of paphs.
Rob

Hi I'm from Burma (Myanmar) and I used to live in Pyin Oo Lwin. I went back in 2006 and planning a trip this year, hopefully around December. The national garden, especially the orchids house was constructed just a few years ago. There used to be a 3 large orchids use (10x) that size by the lake. Most peoples used to grow all the paph. in pure crushed powder charcoal (about the size of wheat to corn grain) with or without other compost. The funding for the garden, is well, you can probably guess the money goes into the official pocket and most of the staffs are from the village and don't really have any knowledge about orchids. They all assume since terrestail orchids grow in the ground, only soil are needed and the local soil is pretty much high in iron and little organic matters.

Most of the paph, at least in Pyin Oo Lwin area blooms different time. Paph. charlesworthii and spicerianum blooms around April to early June. P.hirsutisismum and parishii blooms after the rainy season, from December to March. All the paph are wild collected so, there are some odd clones that bloom other time of the year. strangly when I talked to most of the local nursery owner, they all have a hard time blooming wardii regulary. Something about the local weather or just the plants are not properly cultivated. P. concolor which mainly grown in the southern part of Burma, especially in lower Shan states down to Mon State are rarely cultivated in Pyin Oo Lwin area because they tend to perish more easily than other species.

Also most local pay more attention to more showy genus like Vanda, Renanthera, Aerides, Rhycostylis, Ascocentrum, Dendrobium and Cymbidium. The country has some of the best wild clones of orchids that i have seem. Like V.coerulea v. pink , V. coerulescens (flower is almost 2" and intense blue color), V.bensonii (all range of color from brown to pink to brick red). Cymbidium is a local favourite in Pyin Oo Lwin (esp in Shan States) area. The most commonly grown are lowianum and a few traceyanum. There is one nursery on the road to national garden, right by the first dam, have a rare Cym. parishii. When I saw it, I though wow, the plant has a C.eburneum growth habit and the spike has 5 flowers, white with pink blush on the sepals and petals and the lip is heavily spotted with bold maroom spots. Too bad many of the plants are not properly cultivated and sib crosses. I hope the owner still have the plant.
 
Hi wonderlen3000,
I wish I had know you before I visited Myanmar as you may have recommended nurseries or areas to visit. When I visited U Kyaw Nyunt in 2000, he had a lot of the different clones of coerulea that were amazing amongst many others. I saw for the first time, Cym. tracyeyanum and it was spectacular. I've been to the Shan state on my first two trips and saw lots of bellatulums and what I thought were bulbophyllums. Up in the Chin hills, I saw lots of dendrobiums but I knew not what I saw. This was my third trip to Burma and I already look forward to the next. Perhaps on the next trip I might try to get permits for the northern states with an experienced guide and try to see more plants in situ. Rob
 
I would think trying to get away from burma alive would be better than trying to be a tourist or worrying about plants there. relief workers have been quoted as estimating that in the last 30 years or so, over a half-million people have been executed if they don't conform to the preferred ideology. I know of recent people who were told to be gone in three days or else they would have their choice of mortal implements...
 
Without our concern, political or personal, nothing will change there. I have never felt in danger there more then I have in any other main stream tourist location, perhaps less so. The situation is far different for the citizens, they face unspeakable danger and hardship. Almost all I have met have welcomed our support and concern for their struggle and welcome the interest we have of their culture and inquire much of ours. I admire their grace and courage. It is hard to understand their plight via the media. I feel differently by having experienced the situation directly and look forward to continuing to help advance a better life for those that I encounter there. It is a beautiful country and I hope more people will engage the situation in a thoughtful manner.
Rob
 

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