Paph ID help please

[Jmoney]

interesting flower, whatever it is!

[Mahon]

Paph. insigne f. sanderae (the 'flavum' form) doesn't have any pigmentation at the base of the leaves. Here's one of mine to demonstrate...
(sorry for the bad photo quality... just did it somewhat fast)

Paph. insigne f. sanderae


I do see in your cross the presence of both Paph. insigne f. sanderae and Paph. sukhakulii... it's a great flower!

-Pat

[Kerry]

The funny thing is that my mom thought it was carnivorous!

My husband keeps looking at my paphs and asking "Are you sure they don't eat bugs? What's the pouch for then?" Good question!

You could certainly hide some of the mice that my cats bring in within them....

[smartie2000]

Thanks Pat.
...makes me wonder what the pigments on the base of the plant came from. This guy is tough to ID because no one makes these hybrids anymore. I suspect the seller was an older man and this was a division of one of his specimen plants

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Catching up here, Fren. Looks beautiful.

Cheers,
BD

[Piper]

Kerry, your husband isn't too far off. The pouch is a device that gets the desired pollinator to do its job.

Typcially, the bee, fly, or whatever, flies in and gets trapped. In an attempt to get out, it brushes against the pollinia smearing pollen all over itself. As the bee tries to exit the pouch, it rubs the pollen onto the column. And...voila! Orchid sex!

McJulie

[Mahon]

...which reminds me

My husband keeps looking at my paphs and asking "Are you sure they don't eat bugs?

After pulling off the last flower on Phrag. caricinum, I split the flower open to store pollinia, and found a small, dead housefly inside the pouch. Not all make it out alive, beware!

-Pat

[Kerry]

Sounds like a very sensible, if slightly complex, way of making sure that orchid sex gets to happen.

[Piper]

That's the beauty of orchids. They've evolved exceedingly complex ways to ensure pollination. And not indiscriminate sex, either! They've evolved numerous devices to attract very specific pollinators.

Some have nighttime fragrance to attract bats or moths. Some have very complex flower structures to trap insects to assist in the floral consummation. After seeing Angraecum sesquipedale, Darwin hypothesized that only a moth with a 12" proboscis could pollinate such a long nectary. Everyone laughed, until years later it was proven that was exactly what happened and they discovered the moth.

Orchids are as evolutionarily advanced in the plant kingdom as humans are in the animal kingdom. They're not our houseplants - they're our peers!

McJulie

[smartie2000]

I thought I would mention that I found the ID again now since I saw the same plant for auction again, but this time with the corrected name.

It is Paph Caraibe ‘Mad Max’ x insigne ‘Sanderae’. Caraibe is villosum x sukhakulii, which means we were so close...I'm so glad that the item was relistest, I even forgot the vendor of it