Paphiopedilum syiharefanum CAVESTRO
Sektion Coryopedilum
In October 2025, paphiopedilums flowered in an orchid population on the Indonesian island of Java. These plants had been discovered in February 2023 in the coastal region of West Papua (Indonesia) at an altitude of 200 meters.
Due to the unusually small, shoe-like flower head, this bloom could not be classified as belonging to any other known species of Paphiopedilum. Cavestro, together with Dody Nugroho, described these plants as a new species and named them Paph. syiharefanum after Syi Harefa.
A group of authors (O. GRUSS; R. SUPUTRA; L.S. JUSWARA; R. SCHETTLER) have downgraded this "new" species in April 2026 to a mere synonym of Paph. glanduliferum. Their reasoning was the plant's deformed staminode, which they argued does not warrant a new species description.
https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.751.2.10#title-1
They overlooked the fact that at least one other plant had flowered with this conspicuously small staminode.
I heard from another orchid enthusiast that he had received similar Paphiopedilums with this small staminode about 10 years ago. Therefore, a deformation of the shoe is unlikely to be present or applicable to the described plant.
I cannot understand why none of the aforementioned authors have yet made a connection to the previously extinct species Paph. glanduliferum (see species description). However, the available images, particularly of the staminode, are rather blurry, and a comparison with the existing herbarium material of Paph. glanduliferum is not possible. New flowers of this species could provide clarity.
I would like to thank Dody Nugroho (Rifai Azka) and Syi Harefa for providing the following images.
Whether further flowers of this new species will also form such a small shoe-like structure can only be determined after subsequent flowering on additional plants.
Further details about this new description can be found here: