New candidate for this month is Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Latte (Paph. Wellesleyanum x Paph. adductum var. anitum).

Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Latte was originated and registered by Hung Sheng from Taiwan in 2019.

Paph. Wellesleyanum (Paph. concolor x Paph. godefroyae) was registered by A. Alberts in 1875 and is one of the oldest orchid hybrids. Both of the species accepted by POWO (Kew) and belongs to subgenus Brachypetalum. The native range of Paph. concolor and Paph. godefroyae is Thailand, China and Indo-China.

Paphiopedilum adductum var. anitum Koop. (2000) is synonym of Paphiopedilum adductum (by POWO (Kew)) and the native range of this species is Philippines. However, RHS use name Paphiopedilum adductum var. anitum when register hybrids.

Paphiopedilum adductum var. anitum sometimes also called Paph. anitum.

Previous Awards:

There is no AOS awards for this cross.

There are 49 AOS awards for Paph. Wellesleyanum! The latest award - cultivar 'Mark's Joy' AM/AOS 80 pts granted in June 14, 2014.

There are 3 AOS awards for Paph. adductum var. anitum. Clone 'Midnight Magic' AM/AOS (86 pts), May 13, 2017 is the latest award.

Description:

The candidate has 2 flowers and 1 bud on one 31 cm staked inflorescence. Plant has 2 growth with 6 and 7 leaves on each growth (plant is 32 cm wide).

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 11.5 cm;                   NS V - 9.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 5.2 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 5.2 cm;

Petal W - 2.7 cm;               Petals L - 7.2 cm;

Lat/Synsepal W - 4.0 cm; Lat/Synsepal L - 5.2 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 2.5 cm;      Lip/Pouch L - 4.7 cm.

Judges' Comments

David Edgley (Accredited Judge, Western Canada Judging Center)

Paph. Hung Sheng Latte is a beautiful combination of Welleseyanum and adductum var. anitum.   The pouch and dorsal sepal colors are wonderful.  The proportion is excellent.  The weakest part of the flower (to me anyway) is the petal color and form.  I would score this flower around 85 points although someone might be able to talk me into a higher score.

David

Pam Noll (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Paph. Hung Sheng Latte

A very interesting Paph. hybrid for us, the flowers are attention grabbing from the first glance. The mellow golden coloration overlaid with mahogany markings is very attractive. The petals are held at about a 45 degree angle rather than completely downward as its Paph. anitum parent, combined with their width and length, makes for very interesting flowers overall. The crimping of the dorsal sepal of the lower flower is not evident in the upper flower. I would like to see the bud when fully open, to see if the dorsal sepal fully forms without crimping. The mahogany color saturation and undulating petal margins may be expected from Paph. anitum and their distal reflexing possibly from the Paph. concolor grandparent. When Wellesleyanum has been crossed with Paph. rothschildianum or its hybrids, the resulting flowers are similar in shape and size to the plant under discussion, such as Paph. Louise Jernigan ‘RainGreen’ HCC/AOS, ‘Matsumoto’ BM/JOGA, and Paph. Golden Africa ‘Four Seasion’ SM/TPS.  The lack of symmetry of the dorsal sepal in the one flower is a bit distracting. Overall, I feel this hybrid exhibits a blend of the good points of its parentage, so I did a preliminary tally and scored the plant in the HCC range.    

Sincerely,

Pamela Noll, Alamo JC

Deb Boersma (Associate Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Heng Sheng Latte

This line of breeding using Brachypetalums crossed with multi-floral Paphiopedilums is becoming quite popular. No awards to this cross but Paph. Heng Sheng Tango of similar breeding (Paph. leucochilum x Paph. adductum var. anitum) has received two quality awards, needless to say that judges are finding this type of hybrid awardable.

In my opinion neither of these hybrids are an improvement over parentage, the nice broad petals of the Brachypetalums and the narrow, long, twisting petals of the multi-florals result in rather short, downswept petals that don’t have as an attractive presentation as the parents.

I would have to say at this point that I would not nominate it for a quality award and am very interested to hear what the other judges have to say.

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

A nicely presented plant. Very striking color and quite flat, a little cupping on the petals and dorsal sepals which I will take out some points. It is symmetrical. It has a good size. I will give it a good AM.

Inge Poot (Emeritus Judge, Toronto Judging Center)

The plant seems to be more floriferous than one would expect from its one and two flowered parents.

The overall colour is good. The overall shape is OK, but not outstanding.

I like the shape of the dorsal when it first opens, but do not like the waviness the edge develops on maturing. Dorsal colour is good as it does show the anitum darkening.

The ventral is good on opening, but gets a bit wonky on maturing. Its colour is very good.

The pouch shape is pleasing, not the pugnacious shape of the anitum. Colour is as good as can be expected since it got the anitum colour, not the light colour of the Welleslianum.

The petals are for me the weakest part. The tips turn under and the edges are curled backwards and irregularely wavy. The colour is not bad, especially the pleasing darkening proximally.

I might give it a low HCC.

Inge Poot

Ginna Plude (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This is one of those crosses where you ask, "Why???"  :-)  The parents are much more attractive than the offspring. Wellesleyanum has nice full, sometimes speckled, segments that create a nice round image. The adductum is very exotic looking. Not traditionally 'pretty' but very striking. Unfortunately, the offspring does not seem to exhibit any of the pleasing or striking aspects of the parents. I do not find the form or the marking appealing. The grower has done a nice job of growing it. The plant looks very healthy and clean, but the flowers leave much to be desired unfortunately.  

Thanks

Ginna

Kristen Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

I included Paph. adductum "Black Hook' in my analysis believing it is also the anitum variety.

Flower count is as expected; size of flower and individual parts is above the geometric mean; slightly cupped, but not unexpected given parentage; Flowers are nicely spaced and presented on the inflorescence, straight dark stem is bonus; I love the yellow with contrasting burgundy markings - the difference in color of the pouch adds interest, but is still cohesive with rest of flower; I really like the dark burgundy edge on the dorsal, petals and synsepal as well as how the edge hairs are dark, consistent and extend all the way around the segments; I do not like the overlay of color at the tip of the dorsal - gives a muddy appearance;  I really love the shape, color, markings, texture and hairs on the staminode - it adds a central focus, interest and cohesion to flower; there appears to be a difference in texture between the pouch and the rest of the flower, adding more depth; dorsal is not symmetrical, but is pointable and not excessive as to be a fatal flaw; petals have some asymmetry from side to side and are slightly cupped, I like the presentation of the petals; I can not tell if the bottom flower is symmetrical.  I'm on the bubble with this flower for a quality award, decided to point it and see what happens, ended up at 76 points, so assuming both flowers are symmetrical, low HCC.

Jan Takamiya (Associate Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Latte

(Paph. Wellesleyanum x Paph. adductum var. anitum)

This hybrid appears to be a vigorous and interesting blend of its ancestry, similar to Paph. Chou-Yi Anigode. The ns of 11.5 cm is almost twice the geometric mean, and the flower count is above the average as well. Nature is amazing how it merged the two very different flower forms and inflorescence lengths into a cohesive looking Paph. The downswept petals are not ideal but understandable considering the adductum parent. In my opinion, the dark & contrasting colors and pattern are this hybrid's strength. I love how the wide, dark dorsal hood anchors the dark godefroyae markings and richly colored pouch. I would nominate for merit and score an AM.

Question: Color seemed recessive on Wesleyanum. Is it safe to assume that adductum flipped on the godefroyae color?

Deb Bodei (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Latte (Paph. Wellesleyanum x Paph. adductum var. anitum)

Nice clean, mottled foliage on a well-grown plant. It looks like it might be the first bloom. The stature is compact for a multifloral and is the plants best feature. We are assessing this plant for a flower award.

Form of the pouch is full and pleasant, as is the shiny texture. Staminode is attractive. Both favor Welleslyanum. The dorsal favors the form of adductum. The parents are each known for very different and very attractive forms. Welleslyanum has a nice full, round full look while adductum is a very strong looking flower with an angular pouch with long graceful petals. The petals on the candidate are somewhere between the two, not attractive and detract from the overall look. The overall form is not an improvement over the parents in my opinion. The candidate took a few good points from each, but the final compilation is not pleasing.

The color might appeal to some because it is dark and favors adductum. To me the color contrast and pattern on the back of the flower is more pleasing than the front. The front pattern is not an improvement on one parent that has delicate spotting with the other parent also more attractive usually with dark, bold, crisp, markings. The color contrast is ok, but the markings are blurred and not crisp.

I do like the length of the inflorescence which lifts the flowers of the brachy parent up but is not as tall as the other parent. The inflorescence is also nicely arranged and has a good flower count in between the two parents.

Overall, I do not think the flower is an improvement over either parent and I was not able to score it high enough for form or color to reach a flower award. I would not nominate on this flowering.

Thanks,

Deb

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This is an interesting cross of species, lacking human intervention, would have no business associating with each other.

The resultant progeny is not an improvement over the progenitors. Color is interesting but not sharp, margins of markings diffusing into the adjoining matrix resulting in an unattractive product. Form might be marginally acceptable to some, but not to this observer. No award on this bloom, and likely subsequent blooms.

Tom Mirenda (Accredited Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

A pleasing and exciting result from this unusual cross.

I often think that just blooming these intersectional crosses deserves recognition.

In this case, I am indeed enthusiastic about the results which are richly colored and reasonably well formed.

I think we will be seeing more of var. anitum shortly because of the dark palette it brings to hybrids.

My problem is that it is the only example of this cross that I’ve seen, and can’t tell if its exceptional at this point.

While commendable in many ways, there are some flaws that may not exist on other clones out there.

While I love a nice subtle bit of ruffling on most orchids, I think it detracts a bit from the beauty here.

And the pouch would be better if it was a bit more infused with color….perhaps more solid and less grainy.

Flower count is good considering the Wellesleyanum parent.

I do think its awardable, but would urge some restraint in scoring until more of these have been presented.

I would say it is at the cusp of AM range….and would get 79 to 81 points.

Tom Mirenda

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

Paph. Hung Sheng Latte

While there are no awards to this particular cross, there are awards to adductum (anitum)  crossed to the parents of Wellesleyanum… anitum x godefroyae is Chou-Yi Anigode which has 3 awards, and adductum (not the anitum variety) x concolor is Deejay Original which as 1 award.

I think this cultivar presented shows a comparable flower to the “cousin” plants mentioned above. It has very nice color and shows the darkness expected from anitum. The flower form is also consistent with this type of breeding, with a nice wide dorsal sepal, and petals that are typically held at a downward angle with undulate margins. The bilateral symmetry looks good and the arrangement is great for a sequential bloomer! The two form issues that I would score down on are the slight apical cupping of the petals and the rather porrect pouch. I like the richness of the color and the undulation is very pleasing.

While the petals are a bit long and narrow compared to the awarded Chou-Yi Anigode, they are actually wider than the Deejay Original.

I would nominate this flower for scoring and for me it would fall into the lower AM, 80-82 points.

Laura Newton
AOS Director of Awards and Special Projects

Mark Werther (Accredited Judge, Mid-Atlantic Judging Center)

Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Latte
(Paph. Wellesleyanum x Paph. Adductum var. anitum)

I have been studying the flowers on this plant for several weeks.  My first impression was that I had not seen anything like the patterning on the two flowers.  Clear brown striping, dotting and coalescing without creating a mud bath. I then tried to determine if I could down point the presentation. The Wellesleyanum Brachy certainly overcame the thin pendant petals of the adductum and produced better than expected form in my mind. The brachy also allowed the expression of the darkness from the anitum with clear patterning and absorbed and improved the dotting from the godefroyae. Both flowers produced an artistic pleasing stance. I then looked at the shape of each segment of both flowers - the forms and sizes were close to identical. I can downpoint a bit in the incurve at the ends of the petals and the dorsals are not super flat.  Overall, I find the results to be a fine direction in breeding, a bit unique and I am subjectively pleased.  I can point this hybrid as high as the mid-80's.  

Mark Werther, Mid-Atlantic JC

Leslie Hayes-Cullins (Accredited Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

I have to say when I first saw this I was really interested as to the breeding. I do like the upright inflorescence, I would have liked to see it un-staked. It appears to be sturdy. The flower count seems appropriate, color is vivid according to my screen, the dorsal is a little more pinched than I would like, the petals almost look symmetrical, I do lay the gentle waves, I cannot tell if the pouch is straight, in the close ups it looks good but further away it looks off. Those are just little picky things. Anyway, that being said it’s a very interesting line of breeding. It looks like it’s very firm and the color is bright. I’d be interested to see where it goes. I would nominate.

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

Virtual Award Description

Two well presented flowers and one bud on one 31 cm staked inflorescence; dorsal sepal slightly cupped, broad based with apical tip and very mild undulated margins, dorsal and synsepal gold overlaid with very deep burgundy heavy spotted tessellation basally, transitioning to brown tessellation distally; elongate petals downswept with mild undulated hirsute margins, bright gold overlaid with burgundy spots and tessellation basally, transitioning to burgundy parallel veins distally; pouch gold overlaid with light burgundy and darker tessellation; staminode soft yellow with burgundy short fine hairs; substance firm, texture shiny. 

Grower's Advice

We got this Paph. in January 2020 from Ten Shin Gardens (Taiwan). This’s the second bloom. This plant is a slow growing, needs to grow 2-3 years to maturity. We’re very happy with this bloom. 

We keep this plant together with all our Paphiopedilums, they stays outdoor in the summer and inside the house under LED lights during the winter.