Paphiopedilum hybrid

Developed in cultivation, these perennial orchid hybrids combine the characteristics of different slipper orchids. Slipper orchids in this genus form fan-shaped leaf growths and lack the water-storing pseudobulbs found in many other orchids. Their flowers have a pouch-shaped lip, two lateral petals and a prominent dorsal sepal; the two lower sepals are fused behind the pouch. In Paphiopedilum breeding, crossing species and existing hybrids produces diverse combinations of flower shape, color and flower number. Photographed in Armenia, Colombia.