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Paph. lunatum?  No - it's Paph. purpurascens

 

In spring 2024, I bought some almost flowering young plants of various Paphio species from an orchid dealer in Schwerte (Germany). These plants grew well in the summer and most of them have now started flowering.

 

This plant was labelled as Paph. lunatum - after comparing it with another Paph. lunatum that was flowering at the same time, I came to the conclusion that it was Paph. purpurascens (syn.: Paph. javanicum var. purpurascens).

All of the Paphios shown below were taken out of the bottle at about the same time and grown together. One of the labels was probably not put on properly.

Here is a comparison of the similar looking lady's slippers:

 

 

Here are the individual species for direct comparison:

 

A second plant of Paph. purpurascens:

 

 

 

 

 

A second plant of Paph. javanicum:

 

 

 

A distinction between the different species can be found here: Paph. javanicum complex.