Paphiopedilum primulinum


fma. primulinum	fma. purpurascens

Paphiopedilum primulinum M. Wood & P. Taylor

Described: M. Wood & P. Taylor in Orchid Review, 81(955): 220 (1973)
Etymology: Named for the primrose-colored flowers.
Varieties & Forms:
Paphiopedilum primulinum fma. purpurascens (M. Wood in Orchid Review, 84(995): 133-143 (1976)) Peeters & Braem in Paphiopedilum, 408 (2003) - colored form
Synonyms:
Paphiopedilum liltii hort.
Chromosome Count - Paphiopedilum primulinum

2n = metacentrics telocentrics n.f.

32 18 14 50
Chromosome Count - Paphiopedilum primulinum fma. purpurascens

2n = metacentrics telocentrics n.f.

32 16 16 48

Leaves: 4-7, 15-17 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, green with pale veining, base and apex ciliate, fma. purpurascens purple-spotted at base
Inflorescence: several flowered, opening sequentially, 20-35 cm long, green, pubescent, internodes 4-5 cm long
Bloom: 6-8 cm wide
Plant:
fma. pururascens

Distribution -
Elevation: 5-500 m
Peak Flowering in the Wild: unclear because of its sequential flowering habit
Ecology: dwarf forests near the tops of limestone hills, also on coralline limestone facing the sea at elev. 5-10 m
Mean Temperature Range: 24-25°C
Light: light-moderate shade
Medium: calcareous, leaf litter, humus

Water (D-drier, M-moderate, W-wetter) -

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Paph. primulinum is unlike all other paphiopedilums in that the albino form was the first to be described and is thus the 'typical' variety. The colored form is fma. purpurascens, named for the color of the flowers.
The account of its discovery by Liem Khe Wie in 1973 in Orchid Review is almost certainly false.
From Braem & Chiron 2003: "Buyers should be aware of the fact that on several occasions, plants of the garden hybrid Paphiopedilum Pinocchio.... have been sold under the name of P. primulinum. One of these sales was a very large batch of seedling plants that were sold by a German nursery to a wholesale nursery in the USA. Furthermore, Paphiopedilum Avalon Mist, the back cross of P. primulinum onto P. Pinocchio, is almost impossible to differentiate from the true P. primulinum. Only the larger size and number of flowers per inflorescence make some plants suspicious."

Braem, Guido J., and Guy Chiron. Paphiopedilum. Saint-Genis Laval, France: Tropicalia, 2003.
Cribb, Phillip J. The Genus Paphiopedilum. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia: Natural History Publications in association with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1998.
Gruss, O. "Albino Forms of the Slipper Orchids." Orchid Digest 69, no. 4 (Oct/Dec 2005): 204-29.
Karasawa, K. "Karyomorphological Studies in Paphiopedilum, Orchidaceae." Bulletin of the Hiroshima Botanical Garden 2 (Mar 1979): 1979.

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Page Created By: Stephen Manza
Last Updated: 10-22-06
contact: silence882@gmail.com

2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
32	18	14	50

2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
32	16	16	48