Subgenus Parvisepalum delenatii

Subgenus Parvisepalum delenatii

 

I received an interesting question from Frikkie Marais in South Africa the other. As you can see, he comes to this from breeding vegetables. “Dear Harold. In vegetable breeding, we usually self a selected line for about seven times to fix certain traits. We then make various F1 hybrids using a number of these inbreds to see if there is something worthwhile. My question now is: will you get good hybrid vigor if one uses some of the older selfed clones of Paph. delenatii with the newer ones? Or will it be better just to get rid of the older clones with smaller flowers?”

To put this into the correct perspective, I need to explain and define a few terms:

Deleterious mutations: When parents create sex cells (same for plants, animals, yourself) mistakes are made in replicating genes. These mistakes are called deleterious mutations because the genes they code for cannot function. Fortunately, genes come in pairs and if the other member of the pair functions properly it can compensate for the deleterious one. Usually, there is one new delirious gene in each organism.

 

http://www.orchiddigest.com/orchid-digest-82-1.html

 

Only three species of Paphiopedilum within the subgenus Parvisepalum boast pink flowers – P. delenatii, P. micranthum, and P. vietnamense. P. delenatii has been has been used to make a wide number of primary hybrids with other Paphiopedilum species, and are the focus of this article. All the plants mentioned here I have grown and flowered at my home in southern Japan.

Paphiopedilum delenatii – one of the parent plants of all the mentioned hybrids in this article

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Most species within this subgenus live in northern Vietnam and adjacent areas of China. The exceptions are P. vietnamense which is found in a very small area in the northern mountains of Vietnam, and P. armeniacum, confined to a small area of Yunnan near the Myanmar border. By contrast, P. delenatti is found only along the southern coastline of Vietnam. The upshot is that all in the group can endure colder temperatures in winter, while P. delenatti is a truly tropical plant.

The earlier primary hybrids with P. delenatii were made from the progeny of one famous plant grown by Marcel Lecoufle. In the last 20 years, with the rediscovery of this species in southern Vietnam, its hybrids have become more diverse and available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://botanyboy.org/four-paphiopedilum-hybrids-p-delenatii-primaries/