re; 'Harefield Hall'

[Bernhard Hilse]

Here is a photo of 'Harefield Hall' as printed in "Orchids Australia" Dec. 2005.
Paph insigne 'Harefield Hall' is found in the wild in the mountains on India and Nepal. A few years ago, some smaller sized plants were found in Bangladesh and a type which looks a little bit alike in North West Thailand but it has been described as a cross. This plant was very popular in Australia for over 100 years, especially in Victoria and New South Wales, but even I, in the tropics, can grow it. It has acclimatised here too. I have books from 70 years ago, and some photos are a yellowish brown. My own "Harefield Hall" has the petals on both side much wider. In general it should have 60 spots. I think it still should be quite common in Australia and, in such an old established plant, there would be a big variation in the flower. ( the variation shouldn't be as big as in 'Randy Rudolph'. Kind regards Bernhard

 

[GuRu]

.... In general it should have 60 spots...

Thank you for your very interesting explanations.
Did you count the spots on yours?? I can't believe that the number of spots should be a serious feature to tell it from a common P. insigne ??
Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[labskaus]

Here is a photo of 'Harefield Hall' as printed in "Orchids Australia" Dec. 2005.
Paph insigne 'Harefield Hall' is found in the wild in the mountains on India and Nepal.

Not true. Paph insigne Harefield Hall was collected in these mountains and brought to Harefield Hall in England, after which it was named. Therefore, it is not being found there any more. The name Paph. insigne Harefield Hall applies to this one particular plant.

I have books from 70 years ago, and some photos are a yellowish brown. My own "Harefield Hall" has the petals on both side much wider. In general it should have 60 spots.

Your Harefield Hall should look exactly like any other Harefield Hall, with identical dimensions.

in such an old established plant, there would be a big variation in the flower.

even in such an old plant, there should be no variation at all. Plant vigor (division size) and growing conditions may influence the condition of the flowers. Two plants grown side by side should still look identical.

I believe the name Harefield Hall is much more common than the plant. Many plants that look similar to the original may have been given that name, and seedlings from self and sib crosses may have been named like the parental plant. The reasons are the same why so many paphs are mislabeled: laziness, dodginess, incompetence, error, greed. Multiplied by 100 years of cultivation.

A thread in the other forum deals with this cultivar

http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1381

Note the dimensions given in the original article in Gardeners Chronicle: 3" wide dorsal sepal, 6" long petals, etc.
Also note the differences, in particular in the spotting, between the different flowers shown as Harefield Hall. On the original RHS drawing, Harefield Hall appears to have quite a bold spotting, actually. Bernhard, I'd love to see a pic of your Harefield Hall for comparison.

Best wishes

 

[Bernhard Hilse]

My photo from Peter Taylor of New South Wales, of "Harefield Hall", was in response to "What Species is this". I thank everyone for their comments. Regards Bernhard

 

[slippertalker]

I agree with the above sentiment, Paph insigne 'Harefield Hall' is a specific clone and a known triploid that still breeds. It is significantly larger than most other Paph insigne's. I'm also positive that there are a lot of plants that are tagged with this name incorrectly due to sloppy record keeping.

 

[paphiness]

I just saw a division of 'Harefield Hall' in bloom at the Orchid Zone last week. It is definitely much bigger than a normal insigne (of which there were several next to it). I saw it in bloom last year, and it was huge then, too.

Here is a picture of it (unfortunately, I did not have time to put regular insigne plants in bloom next to it).

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I've attempted to buy Harefield Hall on at least 2 occasions. Both times they bloomed out to be the most ordinary of ordinary insignes......Eric