Second plant of this week - Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley (Paph. Olympic Emerald 'Hillswiew' AM/AOS x Paph. charlesworthii album 'Titan' AM/AOS.

Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley was registered by B. Mark in 2018. This Paphiopedilum represents group of Novelty Paphiopedilums. This is cross between standard Complex hybrids (bulldog type) and species (Paph. charlesworthii). This type of Paphs. always have a challenge to find their place at the orchid show. It can't fit standard Complex hybrids (bulldog type) group and of course it's not a species! If no Novelty group presents, plant usually go to group 'Other Paphs'.

Interesting, that using Paph. charlesworthii can bring size of the plant (and flowers) down and this Paph. taking his place (by size) exactly between standard Complex hybrids and Miniature Paphs.

There's no AOS award for this cross. There are 5 awards on Paph. Olympic Emerald and about 100 awards on Paph. charlesworthii).

I found interesting to read article by Harold Koopowitz "What Makes A Good Paphiopedilum Flower?" published in Orchid Digest - The Paphiopedilum Issue, Vol. 82-4, Oct., Nov., Dec. 2018 where author described 'Judging Novelty Paphiopedilums'.

In Recent AOS award you can find Paph. Memoria Robert Wimmer 'Max' AM/AOS and 'Bryon' HCC/AOS, awarded in Nov. 21, 2020, which have Paph. charlesworthii in background.

Our candidate has 2 flowers on 2 inflorescences 12 cm tall.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 9.8 cm; NS V - 9.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 7.9 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 6.6 cm;

Petal W - 3.2 cm; Petals L - 5.9 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 4.0 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 5.1 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 3.6 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 5.3 cm.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Two pleasing, staked, erect flowers on two inflorescences emanating from a vigorous, well-grown plant displaying multiple leads; form is reasonable, dorsal not as good as many awarded charlesworthii; Olympic Emerald's lime green significantly diminishes color intensity in this offspring , rendering flower awardability moot. In sum: Flower not an improvement over the parents, but the vigorous growth (with continued excellent culture) is a sure shot at an inevitable culture award.

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

2 Stately flowers that are the result of 2 AM awarded plants. I love the color combination and presentation of these harmonious flowers. The crisp white with the blush and green basal strips are lovely. The light ruffling is also beautiful, although I wish the waviness at the top of the dorsal was symmetrical. The petals have a nice even presentation, with green picotee that blends nicely with the green stripes on the dorsal and interesting venation with pink basally that enhances the pink in the dorsal.. The clear yellow in the staminode is a nice central color that gives interest to the flower as a whole. I wish the synsepal was slightly wider, especially when compared to the parents, but is a nice even green that does enhance the overall appearance of the flower. There appears to be a difference between the texture of the dorsal and the petals/pouch which adds depth to the flowers.This flower is a nice combination of both parents and what you would hope to get from this parentage. Assuming the flowers are symmetrical (I can't tell absolutely if they are) - I pointed this at 81 AM

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley

When I look at this flower in respect to form it is full and round but the dorsal is cupped and quite undulated, the petals are curved inward and the staminode looks off center to the pouch. The synsepal if a little bigger would round out the form even more. I am not fond of the colour, when compared to the vibrant yellows in the ‘Olympic Emerald’ parent and the description of ‘Titan’ as pristine white and lime green, this plant has a lack lustre colour. I believe this breeding was intended to produce a small plant influenced by the Paph charlesworthii with vibrant yellow or green coloration from both parents but it missed the mark.

I would not nominate this plant for a quality award

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley

What a lovely candidate we have here. Two flowers intermediate in size between the two shapely parents.

Both parents are apparently alba, with no pigments other than green or white being expressed. Our candidate has somehow picked up a faint raspberry-red blush on the proximal portion of the dorsal, as well a light mahogany suffusion and darker reticulations on the otherwise yellow-green petals. The combination is pleasing and clear.

While the hybrid may be somewhat of a novelty, I still think we can judge its form using many of the complex paph standards. The dorsal, while good-sized, is too deeply creased along the distal margin and very distracting. The petals are broad distally, but the lower margins are quite recurved; for this style of paph to be awardable I would want to see the petals staying flat/broad all the way to their proximal connection - this would also provide a better background for the pouch.

Given these latter considerations I would not nominate this plant for a flower quality award on this flowering.

Bob Winkley

Will Bottoms (Student Judge, Carolinas Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley

Impressions:

Quite charming… I’m a sucker for charlesworthii hybrids. I find the venation on the petals with the matching venation on the pouch very attractive. The blush on the dorsal sepal is very nice as well. I find both remarkably consistent between the two flowers. I do notice some issues with the staminodes on both flowers - they both appear slightly off center and twisted clockwise just a bit. The petals are also a bit cupped, as if reaching out for a hug, though this can be expected to a degree from charlesworthii. Both pouches are slightly off center as well. All of these faults can easily be accounted for and still reach an award

Award(s):

I think I would land somewhere in the high HCC to low AM range. As stated in the description here, this flower seems to fall right between standard and miniature Paphs - geometric mean of the parents is NS H - 9.6, NS V - 9.1 - which is right where these flowers fall. Based on my critique before I would probably land right in the worst spot for any quality award somewhere around 79 point HCC.

This exercise was a lot of fun and I’m very excited about doing this each week.

Thanks!

Will Bottoms

Deb Bodei (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Please accept my commentary for this candidate.

Paphiopedilum Noah Franklin Buckley (Paph. Olympic Emerald 'Hillsview' AM/AOS x Paph. charlesworthii album 'Titan' AM/AOS

Observations

First impression is a very well grown plant and overall pleasing looking flower with an attractive dorsal. Looking closer to consider a flower award.

We look for dorsal sepals that do not roll at the bottom on charlesworthii (one of the parents here) but considering there is also a good percentage of spicerianum in the background, the rolling at the bottom of both sides of the dorsal sepal can be expected and accounted for in the scoring. Same goes for the undulation at the top margins of the dorsal. The overall balance and symmetry of the flower is very good including the synsepal. The petal stance is influenced by villosum and there is a substantial gap between the petals and the dorsal sepal which I see as the largest issue with this plant. The staminode is ever so slightly skewed, but it can only be noticed from the photo from the top view.

The color is very nice and lighter hues as would be expected. The pale pink striping in the dorsal is very pleasing as is the reticulation in the petals and the complimentary pouch color. The yellow staminode with its punctuating umbo is complemented by the pouch and petal colors. Texture is satiny to shiny, especially the pouch which is what we look for.

In summary I do think this cross took good traits from both parents and can be considered an improvement.

Recommendations

I would recommend this candidate for a flower award and expect a mid HCC score on this flowering.

Thanks,

Deb

Laura Newton (Accredited Judge, Florida North Central Judging Center)

There is an interesting feature in OrchidWiz to look up cousins, and I found that extremely helpful in this case to see what other similarly bred flower looked like.

This candidate fits well with the size that I would expect.

I really like this flower! Though the flower is a bit cupped, the dorsal sepal is quite broad and nicely formed with little to no reflexing on the proximal margin. The synsepal is broad enough that you can see it from the frontal view which is always a plus. The petals are nicely formed and well-held and the pouch is a decent size and shape so the flower does not come off as top heavy.

I love the bright white of the dorsal sepal which is complemented by the green basal veins and the central rose blush. The green of the synsepal balances out the green veins in the dorsal sepal. The chartreuse petals are perfectly reticulated in mahogany. The pouch is similarly colored. The yellow staminode with a deeper yellow umbo draws the eye to the center of the flower.

I find this an exceptionally well-balanced with great bilateral symmetry and pleasing color.

I would gladly nominate this for a quality award and would score it well into a midrange AM.

Laura Newton

AOS Award Registrar

laura@aos.org

Exhibitor - Sergey and Elena Skoropad, NJ (Associate Judges, Northeast Judging Center)

Virtual Award Description

Two charming, well-balanced, slightly cupped flowers on two 12-cm, staked inflorescences; dorsal sepal broad, round, white, basally veined green, centrally blushed rose pink, margins pleasingly undulate; synsepal cordate, light green; petals elliptical, chartreuse, reticulated cordovan, chartreuse picotee, superior margins undulate, inferior margins slightly reflexed, basal maroon hairs; pouch full, widespread proximally, chartreuse, blushed and lightly veined cordovan; staminode yellow, central umbo deep yellow; substance firm; texture satiny; flowers exhibit almost perfect bilateral symmetry.