Paphiopedilum breeding

Of the four species of the Diandrae , Phaphiopedilum is the most popular among cultivators and it happens to be very much the craze of today's orchid world. It is also the most difficult of all orchid species to breed because of the high amout of sterility in hybrids and the special requirements of the seeds for proper germination under cultural conditions. The extra amount of sterility in Paphiopedilum hybridds is reported to be due to the variations in the chromosome number in the species (Northern, 1970) , which range from 2n = 26 , 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40 and 42 .

The most commonly used species for bybridisation purposes are paphiopedilum insigne , paphiopedilum villosum , paphiopedilum spicerianum and paphiopedilum bellatulum . Of these p .Spicerianum has 30 chromosomes , while all the others have 26 . Yet P. spicerianum is quite compatible with the other species. But meiosis in hybrids is highly irregular which results in a great deal of sterility .