Paphiopedilum appletonianum var. hainanense was originally described as P. hainanense, but it is considered to be a variety of P. appletonianum. As the name suggests, this variety is from southwest Hainan Island, China, located close to the border of China and Vietnam. So it is somewhat separated from mainland populations; the mainland P. appletonianum can be found in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The variety was originally differentiated by more brightly colored flowers, and more boldly tessellated leaves than the mainland plants. However, this widespread species shows a large amount of variations in both foliar and floral morphologies. Averyanov et al (2003), which is an excellent book, illustrates the amazing range of natural variations in the shape of staminodal shields, leaf coloration and the lip shapes of P. appletonianum. The elevation range of P. appletonianum var. hainanense is 457-609m (1500-2000ft, Fowlie 1987).
It is a delightful species with nice patterned leaves. The pastel-colored flower is elegant with nice gradation from pastel pink to olive green on the petal, and beautiful lime green on the dorsal sepal. It seems to be a fairly good grower. In Haikou, Hainan, China, the average daily min/max temperature of Haikou, Hainan is 16/21C (60/70F) in the winter (January) and 33/26C (92/78F) in the summer (July). Since Haikou is at the sea level, the temperature at 500m of elevation is about 1 C (1.8F) cooler. I bought it from a friend in OrchidsForum, but this plan is originally from Orchids Limited.
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| Inside of the lip is nicely dotted. |
Literature Cited:
- Averyanov, L., Cribb, P.J., Phan, K.L. and Nguyen, T.H., 2003. Slipper Orchids of Vietnam: with an Introduction to the Flora of Vietnam. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ISBN, 1842460471.
- Fowlie, J. A. 1987. Paphiopedilum hainanensis Fowl., sp. nov. Orchid Digest, 51(2): 69-70.
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