Paphiopedilum kolopakingii

Our staff has lately been admiring this wonderful pale Paphiopedilum kolopakingii which we received in 2012 from Orchid Inn as Paphiopedilum kolopakingii var. topperi ('Jeanie' x 'Sam's Green Giant'). The typical kolopakingii has a lip that is burnished red amber.

The flowers of kolopakingii vary in size, with larger ones sometimes called variety topperi or gigantea. [But note that the Kew/MoBot Plant List doesn't recognize the varietal name topperi, and Phillip Cribb states in The Genus Paphiopedilum that he regards topperi as simply a large flowered form of kolopakingii.]

Kolopakingii makes a handsome specimen with all its flowers open simultaneously. The pale color of these flowers gives it a sort of ghostly presence in the hour before sunset in the Orchid Display House.