This week I would like to present Paphiopedilum Sharon Booth (Paph. Mount Toro 'semi-album' x Paph. philippinense f. album 'Albino Beauty' AM/AOS).

Paphiopedilum Sharon Booth was registered by F. Booth in 1987. Paph. Mount Toro is a cross between Paph. stonei and Paph. philippinense, meaning this cross contains 75% of Paph. philippinense and 25% of Paph. stonei.

Previous Awards:

There is no awards for this cross.

There are 138 awards total (118 AOS awards) for Paph. philippinense, including different varieties and color forms (alba, album, alboflavum...).

There are 68 AOS awards total for Paph. Mount Toro, including alba color forms. Few plants awarded in Taiwan - Paph. Mount Toro 'Shih Yueh #5' AM/AOS and Paph. Mount Toro 'Shih Yueh #8' FCC/AOS.

Description:

The candidate has 4 flowers on two inflorescences, up to 22 cm height.

The plant has 6 growth, leaf span is 47 cm. It grows in a bark mix in a 4 inch plastic pot.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 12.0 cm; NS V - 17.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 3.5 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 4.5 cm;

Petal W - 0.7 cm; Petals L - 13.0 cm;

Lat/Synsepal W - 3.0 cm; Lat/Synsepal L - 4.7 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 1.5 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 4.1 cm.

Judges' Comments

Dave Sorokowsky (Accredited Judge, California Sierra Nevada Judging Center)

I would not score this plant. If someone nominated it I would score it 72 points. The color is quite good but there are issues with the form of the dorsal sepal...both parents can have flat dorsals. Also, 2 flowers per inflorescence is not sufficient for this type of breeding.

The handbook states that enough flowers must be open to evaluate the arrangement.

I scored this 5/10 for floriforouness. I could justify 4/10 easily. Pap. philippinense album has had 5 and 6 flowers per inflorescence when awarded.

My score for arrangement would also be 5/10. There are not enough flowers to adequately evaluate the arrangement.

Dave

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Four albinistic flowers staked erect just above the foliage on a well grown plant; low flower count (parents 4-5), not very good dorsals, and overall suboptimal form in comparison with parents likely responsible for lack of awards lo these many tears since registration. A nice practice plant for novice.

Note: One can not determine the exact percentage of genetic makeup in offspring after F1.Likelihood is all that one can surmise. Example: There might be little to no stonei or there might be as much as 50%.Mitosis is a crap shoot after F1.

Ramon de los Santos (Accredited Judge, California Sierra Nevada Judging Center)

First of all the color very nice and pleasing, with that I will screen the plant due the following factors, 1) both parents has more flowers per spike. Awarded plants of P. philippinensis has at least 4 flowers and P. Mt. Toro has three. 2) Petals could’ve be longer. P. philippinensis Albino Beauty has 18 cm long and Mount Toro are even longer. 3) Dorsal sepals is not symmetrical and even though it slightly wider than P. philippinensis I expect more since Mount Toro has wider segments. All in all it didn’t make any significant improvement over the parents.

Deb Boersma (Student Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Paph. Sharon Booth

It seems that the hybridizing trend is toward alba forms of Paphiopedilums and I must say that I do like them. I do like this alba form of Sharon Booth, it has a fairly flat flower, some cupping of the dorsal and jutting of the pouch but those are characteristic of the philippinense parent. The dorsal sepal has a nice vertical green stripe pattern, it has undulated margins but I don’t feel that is a downfall. The petals have a good stance and twist nicely but the petals look a little asymmetrical. The bright yellow pouch and petals add a nice contrast to the sepals and petals. The synsepal nicely frames the pouch. I like the overall brightness of the flower.

When I look at the parents, Mount Toro is a very elegant flower taking on a lot of the characteristics of the stonei parent, the wide dorsal sepal with the ivory colour and dark stripes. The two awarded alba forms Shih Yueh #5 and #8 are stunning with great form, colour and size. Philippinense is a very stately flower with long twisted petals and great stance.

I don’t think our candidate is an improvement compared to the parents but I do think it has some good qualities and would be tempted to nominate it. I would score it at an HCC 76-77, I am very interested to hear the other judges’ comments.

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Nice coloration. Good definition of marking. Nice texture. Size is as expected from parents. Flowers presented just above the foliage is nice. Confirmation, carriage and consistency of petals is nice. Flower count per inflorescence is low. Shape and consistency of dorsal is not up to standard of either parent. I would love to have and enjoy this lovely flower in my home, but would not award this flowering.

Thank You for sharing this lovely flower.

Deb Bodei (Associate Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Observations

Impressive color, not much green that I can see. I wonder if the yellow pouch is as saturated as the photo is showing and if the white base color is as bright. This cross has been around for some time with no awards. Both parents are highly awarded and strong parents.

Form is pretty good with some twisting the dorsal and it looks like two of the blooms have the pouch held up higher but it might be because they have just bloomed and are newer than the other two. There aren’t photos head-on to blooms so not sure they look symmetrical. The twisting in the petals look pretty even though. The flower has some of the great stance and presence of its stonei parentage, otherwise it would look like a few of the awarded philippinense like ‘Albino Spider’ with 83 points in 2009.

The color is of course good and what is attractive about this flower. Even the back of the flowers have strong clear color and markings.

The overall and segment sizes are good. The biggest flaw I am finding is the stem which is making the inflorescences look short and lose the grace and presence the parents have. Nonetheless, I think this plant should be recognized and then points deducted for that flaw.

Nomination

I would nominate this plant for a flower award and score it a high HCC. I would hope to see it again on another with a stronger stem, more blooms per stem and more presence for a chance to elevate that award.

Thank you,

Deb

Will Bottoms (Student Judge, Carolinas Judging Center)

Impressions:

The candidate this week is an example of what I consider a great result of alba multi-floral Paphiopedilum breeding. The markings in the dorsal are clean and distinct. The flowers appear decently flat and symmetrical for the species involved. The lip makes a nice contrast against the lighter dorsal and synsepal. The petals are pleasingly and evenly twisted and have a nice presentation as well. My biggest concern is that I would expect at least one or even two more flowers per inflorescence.

Award(s):

All in all a beautiful flower, though I’m not sure I would nominate it on this blooming. I could potentially score it if it was nominated and I might reach a low HCC. I think this may also be a case where seeing this virtually doesn’t do it justice.

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

Grower's Advice

I've decided to submit this plant mostly because white/green (or album) multifloral Paphiopedilums are rarely seen at the judging tables mainly because they are not easy to bloom as normal color varieties. Also, I would like to hear a discussion about low number of flowers. I have found that sometimes judges award multifloral Paphiopedilums with minimum number of flowers and I would like to know what is the minimum number of flowers needed for an award in this case. Interesting enough some of the alba parents of this cross produced low number of flowers per inflorescence (3 max) but others flowered with 4 to 6 flowers per inflorescence. I think maybe different varieties of Pap. philippinense album involved in the breeding.

We bought this Paph. about 10 years ago from Parkside Orchids. This plant came from Quintal Farm (Hawaii). Sam Tsui (Orchid Inn Ltd, IL) originated this particular cross and sent flasks to Hawaii. He told me that only few plants became album (white/green). It looks like we got one!

We grow this Paph. in a bark mix (similar to all other Paphs.). I repot every second year. All Paphs. stay outside during the summer and inside (windowsill) in the winter.