Paph Fumimasa Sugiyama

[paphanatic]

I finally got around to taking pictures of the flowers I have blooming right now.

This is a first bloom seedling of platyphyllum x sanderianum. I wish it would have bloomed a couple weeks later so that I could take to my local orchid show, but who knows maybe it will be a long lasting flower.

[bench72]

Can't figure out which is my fave of the moment, this or the Jerry Spence... hmm, I love em both!!! You take fantastic pics mate. Good on ya!

Cheers
Tim

[uncasteeb]

What a beauty !

[MikeWA]

Simply awesome. I have never see that hybrid before. I like that it retained a lot of the sanderianum.

[Piper]

Funny, I couldn't find platyphyllum in my Cribb's Paph book (2nd edition, 1998). Apparently since its publication, Cribb has reclassified Paph. stonei var. latifolium as its own species, Paph. platyphyllum.

Very nice!

Julie

[paphanatic]

Apparently there were a couple of Stonei var. Latifolium that were awarded AMs before it became a separate species. The one used in this cross was Platyphyllum "Rose Kennedy" AMAOS. Platyphyllum is another one of those species on the wish list that I don't think I'll have for a while.

[Jmoney]

"stonei var. latifolium" was introduced many years ago, with two clones receiving awards, 'Ruth Kennedy' and 'Fred Cummings'. it clearly wasn't a pure stonei, with different flower stance and a much lighter color, and some said it was a stonei x kolo hybrid. it bred true, however, and was re-classified as a legitimate species, platyphyllum. i don't grow plat, but have heard that 'ruth kennedy' despises bright light, and my plat x sandy decidedly prefers low light.

[Piper]

I believe the telling proof for Cribb was that it was from a nearby, but distinctly different region of Borneo. Geographic separation is apparently an important factor in species differentiation.Julie

[Jmoney]

Separated populations would suffice, i.e. two adjacent forests separated by a large golf course or whatever they build down there, as long as it is a relatively sufficient barrier for the natural pollinator that extensive intergrading doesn't occur.

That said, I have a rather low opinion of taxonomy and taxonomists in general, especially within the paph genus. One only needs to look at the bewildering array of varieties (many which are dubious at best and are actually recognized by so called 'authorities' within the genus) and occasionally extreme reluctance on the part of said authorities to recognize new species that seem rather obvious. the incredible level of enmity between certain self-described authorities is also quite sad or comical, depending on your viewpoint.

platyphyllum is clearly not stonei or kolopakingii and if selfings produce homogeneous progeny, it is likely a pure species even if the natural population isn't well characterized. wilhelminiae looks very different from glanduliferum, both in terms of flowers and in plant characteristics. only recently has it been recognized as a legitimate species by the RHS, the self-ordained recordkeeper of all things orchidaceous. but that's another soapbox altogether.