Paphiopedilum mastersianum

This Venus's shoe could serve as valuable material for breeders ,as the coloring of its variegated flowers is almost free of the unwelcome brown -and - red shades . In spite of that ,it has so far been only rarely used in hybridization . Its leaves with simple marbling reach lengths of 8 in/20 cm, while its one-flowered spike is up to 16 in/ 40 cm tall . Each of the large flowers has a green -and- white upper sepal ,delicate purplish dotting on the broad tepals and a markedly purple lip. The species does not do very well in cultivation - it grows very slowly . The flowers appear between April and June .P. mastersianum comes from the Ambon Island.