What is Paphiopedilum armeniacum? Get to know this orchid

Family: Orchidaceae

Family Latin name: Ochidaceae

Genus: Paphiopedilum

Species Latin name: PaphiopedilumarmeniaclumS.C.ChenetF.Y.L.iu

Introduction:

When the flower of Paphiopedilum armeniacum has not yet opened, it is blue-green; before opening it is green-yellow; when fully open it is apricot-yellow, and in the later stage golden yellow. In the sunlight it shines with a golden radiance, appearing rich and luxurious. From opening to withering, the flower lasts about 40 to 50 days, making it one of the rare ornamental flowering plants of the world with a relatively long flowering period.

Characteristics:

Epiphytic orchid. With slender and creeping rhizomes.

The rhizome is 2-3 mm in diameter. Leaves 5-7, oblong. The scape is erect or nearly erect, with green and purple spots and brown hard ridges; the flower is solitary, apricot-yellow, with large petals, broadly ovate or nearly round, and a saccate lip.

Flower color: pale purplish red alternating with green

Flowering period: February to April

Its large, peculiar flower is different from the flower shapes of all other Paphiopedilum species; the corolla is apricot-yellow and brightly beautiful, 4-5 cm in diameter; 5 cm long; the pouched lip is large and elliptical, 2 cm in diameter and 3 cm long; the perianth and lip all have fine purple line dots; the two degenerated stamens are golden yellow, closely resembling a pair of insect eyes, glittering and dazzling.

Its leaves are also very peculiar, with rich variation in leaf variegation and graceful leaf posture, 7-9 cm long and 3-4 cm wide; the leaf underside is purple, and the leaf surface is grayish green with dark green markings. It is an extremely rare treasure among wild dwarf Paphiopedilum species, rich in ornamental value.

Distribution:

Produced in Fugong, Bijiang, Lushui and other counties in northwestern Yunnan. It may also be distributed in Myanmar.

Lower altitude limit: 1400

Upper altitude limit: 2100

Habitat:

It prefers to grow in rock crevices and is drought-tolerant. It grows as a single plant, the plant does not bolt, and the leaves are lanceolate, about 10 cm long and about 3 cm wide, iron-blue, with white spots on the leaf surface, thick and hard, not easy to bend. It blooms in spring, one scape with one flower; the flower scape is drawn out from the center of the plant, and a plant blooms only once in its lifetime. The flower scape is about 25 cm tall, and the pouch opening of the flower is about 1.5 cm wide; the flower pouch can hold one spoonful of water, which is truly rare. In the propagation of this Paphiopedilum, its sprouting method is unique, namely that the root grown in the current year only produces a bud at the root tip in the following year, which emerges from the soil surface and becomes a plant of its own. The roots like to grow in potting soil mixed with sand and gravel, leaf mold and rotten wood, and it survives as soon as it touches soil.

Protection level:

National first-class protected plant.

Standard source: Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Plants (1996)

Supplementary knowledge:

Paphiopedilum armeniacum and Paphiopedilum micranthum are called the "Golden Boy and Jade Girl" in Hong Kong, China. Both of these Paphiopedilum species are endemic to our country. Their flower colors are bright and elegant; one is a dazzling yellow, and the other is a radiant pink, both being rare fine colors, and they are often used as excellent parents for Paphiopedilum breeding.