Common name: Lady Slipper/Slipper Orchid, Tropical Slipper Orchid
Family: Orchidaceae, Orchid
Height x width: 6-18" x 6-12"
Growth rate: moderate
Foliage: 2-4 pairs of leathery leaves strap or lance-shaped to elliptic or ovate, 4-18" long (typically 5-7" long), sometimes mottled; monopodial arising from short stems
Flowers: generally solitary at ends of shoots, one shoot per leaf pair, with an upright sepal, 2 united lateral sepals, 2 spreading petals and the third petal forming a "pouch" like a slipper; often variously colored, marked or striped with red, yellow, white, pink, green; flowers often last for 1-2 months
Light: bright to moderate, lower than most other genera
Temperature: cool to warm
Watering: moderate
Fertility: moderate
Humidity: humid
Soil: well-drained, terrestrial orchid mix
Pests and Problems: botrytis gray mold, root rot, mosaic virus, bacterial soft rot, spider mites, whiteflies, mealybugs, aphids, iron deficiency
Growth habit, uses: flowering indoor orchid
Other interest: native to India, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and generally terrestrial; not to be confused with the U.S native Lady Slipper Cypripedium; offsets form after bloom which will in turn bloom or can be divided off; one of most popular and unique orchids; from the Greek Paphos being an Aegean island with temple to Aphrodite, and pedilon meaning slipper, refering to the shape of the third petal
Other culture: may be easy to grow and flower indoors, some species may be difficult
Propagation: division when repotting
Species:
Of the about 60 species, the following may be more commonly seen.
| Species | petals | upper sepals | pouch |
| appletonianum | slender green, rose | pale green, dark veins | light brown |
| argus | white, spotted | dark veined | red, yellow, green veins |
| barbatum | purplish, veins, spots | white, purple veins | pale green, veined darker |
| bellatulum | rounded, white, spots | same | same |
| callosum | maroon, green | white, maroon stripes | maroon |
| concolor | yellow spotted purple | same | same |
| delenatii | white-pink | same | pink |
| fairrieanum | greenish, dark veins | white, purple veins | green, purplish |
| glaucophyllum | white, reddish veins | same | pink-purple, spotted |
| haynaldianum | green, spotted pink | white, green, spotted | greenish brown |
| hirsutissimum | green, rose mauve | green, shaded brown | greenish brown |
| insigne | yellow-bronze | green-yellow, spotted | yellow-bronze |
| malipoense | green, spots, stripes | same | gray, purple spots |
| niveum | white, red spots | same | same |
| rothschildianum | thin,cream, spots | white spotted purple | purplish, yellow edges |
| spicerianum | white, red mid vein | yellow, red spots | pink-yellow, reddish veins |
| sukhakulii | green spotted dark | white, green stripes | reddish brown |
| venustum | green, rose, spotted | white, green striped | greenish brown, veined |
| villosum | red-brown, glossy | green, brown | yellowish bronze, green |
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