Paphiopedilums in New Guinea (NO.2)

(2) About the group of Paphiopedilums glanduliferum

Dr. Leslie A. Garay, Ph. D. recently retired as director of the Oakes Ames Orchid Library and Herbarium of Harvard University. He is a world authority on orchid taxonomy and has written for many publications. This introduction is extracted from the original writing on the site of Papua New Guinea Orchid News. In detail, you may visit the site and contact the original.

These species in the group of Paph. glanduliferum are confused now. So, in attempt to clarify the confusion, he prepared some notes on this subject for the Papua New Guinea Orchid News hoping to stimulate local interest in further field observations. He examined a number of living specimens of the Paph. praestans relationship. He became rather concerned about the confusion that now surrounds the identity of each component species.

In examining the fine details of each staminode in this complex they clearly fall into two distinct groups: 1. The naked, rugose central part of each staminode is linear-oblong 2. The naked, rugose central part of each staminode is trapezoid and shield like, i.e., much broader at the tip of the staminode that at its base.

Paph. glanduliferum This is the oldest species in the complex, having been described by Blume in 1848. Unfortunately it has never been rediscovered since the type collection was made by Zippel.

Paph. praestans This species is readily identified by its large flowers, strikingly striped sepals and by the greenish-brownish striped petals which are crispate - undulate basally. The petals are never purple or purplish.

Paph. wilhelminae This rather distinct species has received several undeserved blws as to its rank and identity during the past fifteen years. While its staminode resembles that of Paph. praestan in having a linear-oblong central strip, the other floral details are quite distinct. First of all, the flowers are considerably smaller in size and the individual floral segments are fleshier in texture. I have studied the type material freshly preserved in liquid which reveals that the petals are rather succulent and are without any indication of even a slight twisting, and which is even more significant, their bases are completely devoid of any crispate undulation of the margins

Paph. gardineri The identity of this species has been on the controversial list ever since its meager description and illustration were published in 1886. The illustration in The Cruise of the Marchesa was prepared from a photograph in which the side view of the flowers reveals rough carunculations in the place of the staminodes. In the absence of actual material or specimen the nature of the staminode, as illustrated, was attributed to poor artistry.

In the original writing, he described the specificity about each species, especially their shape of staminode. In truth, I 'm preparing CD ROM of ' The species of Paphiopedilums and their hybrids '. In the manuscript, I agreed his classification basically and I have made the tables described the difference between each species. Now, I'll show you the table although it is written in Japanese now. In near future, I'll translate it in English.

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