Please meet our next candidate - famous Paph. Prince Edward of York (Paph. rothschildianum x Paph. sanderianum).

This is so famous hybrid that I decided to skip my usual introduction!

Just few words:

This is one of the oldest hybrids originated and registered by Sanders (St. Albans) in 1898!!!

In OrchidPro we can find 119 awards!!! Latest awards were granted in 2019: cultivars ‘Big Apple’ AM 80 pts and ‘Lady Harriet’ AM 84 pts.

Description:

Paph. Prince Edward of York 'Sublime Botanical Noodliness’ (Paph. rothschildianum x Paph. sanderianum) - 4 flowers and 1 bud on a 60cm inflorescence.

"I purchased this plant as a NBS single growth in 2016 from Little Brook Orchids, after seeing one of its siblings bloom for them with a 3.9 cm dorsal, 1.4 cm petal width, and gorgeous form. They acquired this batch at the Redlands show a few months prior with no info on the tags other than a simple: "rothschildianum x sanderianum." It first bloomed in July of 2019. This is the second blooming. It had intended for the plant to skip a cycle when the shows were cancelled, but it threw up a second spike 5 days after cutting the first, just to spite me. The first spike had 6 buds. Currently it is a 5 growth plant in a 14in container, and a very strong grower. The clone has never been awarded. It has bloomed several times in the past, once with 7 flowers

Grown at 70 PAR under 6500°k artificial light. 12h/day winter, 16h/day summer.”

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 10.0 cm; NS V - 37.8 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 5.1 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 6.8 cm;

Petal W - 1.5 cm; Petals L - 35.0 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 4.6 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 6.0 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 2.9 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 5.8 cm.

Judges' Comments

Deb Bodei

Hi Sergey,

Please accept my assessment and nomination recommendations for:

Paph. Prince Edward of York (Paph. rothschildianum x Paph. sanderianum).

General Observations:

Looking past the kitchen sink, this plant looks well grown, clean, beautifully staked and presented. Despite the setting, it is still a visually stunning plant. Since the photos do not include the back view, my recommendation will be based on we can see in the photo.

Specific Considerations

- the form of the flowers is stunning on this plant and the presentation makes other awarded plants looked almost disheveled in comparison

- the dorsal is wide and pouch well-portioned as are all segments; the ‘full-faced’ look created by the proportion of the segments is very pleasing

- shoulders of the petals are particularly well-held and symmetrical, and the ruffled margins and reticulation are outstandingly attractive

- it is hard to tell from the photo lighting if the color is more deep brown or amber rather than mahogany, but it is attractive either way

- flower count and segment sizes size are comparative to all previous FCCs; 5 flowers to one spike average same; (NS 10cm candidate/11.5cm all; PW candidate 1.5cm/1.4cm all; DW candidate 5.1 cm/ 4.4cm; Petal length 35cm/33cm

-it is a large plant with only one inflorescence, so we will consider a flower award only

Recommendation for nomination:

I would recommend this plant for a flower award and can see the candidate scoring an FCC between 90 and 92. I would have loved to see this plant in person since the photo does not cover all angles.

Thank you,

Deb

Al Messina

Cross very heavily awarded with at least 10 FCC's. Flowers freshly opening inflorescence staked. Pouch central infolding appears on at least three flowers and is very distractive. I would pass on this one and suggest return on next bloom. If pouch defect persists, no award in my opinion. Standards are quite high for this cross.

Thanks for allowing me to participate.

Carrie Buchman

Hi Sergey 😊

My comments

An attractive representation of the cross that is similar in appearance to many others already awarded. The flower measurements are consistent with other awarded AMs; though its petals are slighter wider than the average for the previously award AMs. The dorsal markings are distinct, making the dorsal and attractive focal point for the flower. I’d recommend it for a Quality award.

Carrie

Cathy Higgins

OK, so what do you do when presented with a drop-dead gorgeous flower with over 80 priors AND you have been under judging quarantine for three months?

Consulted Rob Griesbach and his lesson on "type" vs. "parentage." Consulted prior awards. Read the exhibitor's description. And finally LOOKED at the flowers.

We have here three open flowers, one partially open flower and one bud on a plant that loves to grow. What I say about high culture awards is, the plant has to want to do it. This plant wants to do it and is lucky to have found a grower to help it get there. But it is just getting going.

SO, at this presentation, I would point out that not all the flowers are open. The color is not as rich as on some of the recent prior awards (according to the photographs). My eye would prefer a more darkly colored pouch and more yellow in the dorsal sepal. So I’m no higher than an HCC, with the expectation that this plant and its grower will before long return with a presentation that will place it under consideration for a high culture award.

Mark Werther

Sergey:

To provide a bit of history, WWW was selling Paph. sanderianums for $1500 a plant. It became apparent that if you could flower it, the twisted petals would have to be watched and clear space provided; if they touched anything, they would stop or abort.

I received a shipment from I think Orchid Zone and unpacked the ordered plants. Placed the box in the attic with the bottom packing material. About a year later I was going to use the box and discovered a mummified gift Paph. in the packing - a Prince Edward of York. Quite disappointing introduction. The question arose as to the effect of the twisting petals on the hybrid.

A cross from 1898 and still going strong. On reviewing award photos available I note what I consider several reoccurring negatives.

1. Flowers with improper balance.

2. Dorsals with elongated form and wasp waisted - narrow for height proportion.

3. Twisting of the petals with unequal stances.

4. Insufficient or less distinctive markings and lineage.

As an example I selected POY 'Hilo Orchid Farm' FCC/AOS 91 points. Except for the petal length (42 HOF vs. 37.8) very close and the exemplar with wider dorsal of 5.1 vs. HOF of 4.8.

I reviewed the stance, balance, presentation, intensity, clarity and contrast of markings, minimum twisting in the petals and especially the FLAG dorsal, 4 +1 flowers and bud as exceptional. I suggest it represents upper percentage in pointing - possibly equal to HOF.

Mark Werther

Ed Weber

There are 82 AOS awards to this grex and I have looked at every one of them. The one I find most closely matching our subject plant is Imperial (FCC 92 pts - 2006), shown below.

I really like the plant we are discussing. I like the size of the flower... well in line with previous awards. The like the way the petals are held... it has shoulders, but not shoulder pads. I wish the petals were a touch wider. I wish the color was a bit more intense especially in the pouch and petals. I really like the symmetry and disbursement of the markings on the petals. I wish the grower had not severed the first spike which would have given us 11 flowers. The dorsal sepal is, in my humble opinion, superior to Imperial in size, shape and distinctiveness of markings. The synsepal frames the pouch nicely, more so than with Imperial, and the intensity of the stripes is very similar to that of the dorsal sepal.

So I decided to score it using the Paphiopedilum scale because even though it's a multi-floral I still wanted to score each attribute separately... , to see where I come out, and my score is not in line with how the flower impacts me at all! For form I gave it 35 out of 40. The color is where it falls short for me. Only 30 out of 40. Other characteristics I gave it 17 out of 20. I gave it the benefit of the doubt regarding substance and texture... My total score came to only 82 points. If I had to guess at the score for this flower without actually scoring it I would have put it at a low FCC but instead, my numbers came out to a low AM.

If this plant came to judging or was in a show I would certainly nominate it for a flower award. I think it has a little growing to be considered for a cultural award.

John Sullivan

Paph. Prince Edward of York is a grex which I have found intriguing, to say the least. The charm of those long, twisted and somewhat hunched petals on the rediscovered Paph. sanderianum is somewhat diluted (for me) when it is crossed with Paph. rothschildianum. The equally charming petal stance of the latter being nearly horizontal yields in combination a range of petal shapes which we see in much variety in the awarded clones.

For me, the results have often been disappointing. The petals either droop unattractively or they form the "hunched shoulders” look, which, to my eye is equally less than pleasing.

The candidate has the best petal stance I have seen, with just the right amount of downward arch with good symmetry as well. I have only spoken of the petals here, but that is because in this grex the petals make or break the presentation. However, the dorsal is in the good size range and has good color with clear striping. The same can be said for the synsepal.

I would have no trouble scoring this for a flower quality award.

Ty Triplett

Hi Sergey,

Every quality award is, in a way a culture award...Taylor, I remember you quoting someone saying that back in Philly. It stuck with me, and I think this is a prime example. Five flowers is a great start. Color seems average as far as saturation. The grower staked the flowers well and at the right time to be shown well and shingled. Petal width is in range for an award, but still average in that range. The dorsal width is superior to all other awards, and with Paph. sanderianum as a parent, a good dorsal width is nice - though length is average. But what is most interesting is the central dorsal sepal stripe. Paph. sanderianum tends to give break in that stripe down towards the basal third, this example is big and still strongly/distinctly colored with no break. I would be drilling down with the judging team for an award range and nominating for this. Probably mid - AM range. Very nice noodiliness.

Ty

Sergey Skoropad

I always want this famous cross. Many years ago I asked Glen Decker to sell me division of his awarded PEOY but at the time when he finally decided to do it plant already went to orchid heaven!

Our candidate has the form which looks very classical (for me). Out of many, many awards not all awarded flowers looks so elegant like this one. Twisting of the petals is almost perfect.

I wish to see all 5 flower open and presented same way as 3 fully opened flowers. I believe that for PEOY it necessary to have at least 4 full open flowers.

Color is very pleasant but pouch missing deep color. Some of the best clones have nice contrast between yellowish dorsal (from Paph. sanderianum) and deep red pouch (from Paph. rothschildianum).

Size is great. Dorsal sepal looks superior.

Plant is an exceptional grower. If plant can shoot two spikes with 5-6 flowers each at the same time, will be candidate for cultural award.

I would nominate this Paph. PEOY for flower award and score 82-84 pts.

Sergey

Exhibitor - Tony Plasters, PA