Paphiopedilum vietnamense
SPECIES
Found only in northern Vietnam as the most range restricted species in Vietnam with an area of less than 200 square miles and is a warm to cool growing lithophyte or rare terrestrial in seasonally wet, primary, evergreen, broadleafed forests on shady vertical limestone bluffs, cliffs and on tops of mountain ridges of northern and northwestern exposure at elevation of 350 to 550 meters often in mossy clumps or partially shaded rock crevices. This orchid has 3 to 5, distichous, coriaceous-leathery, ovate to oblong-elliptic, obtuse and unequally bilobed apically leaves that below are heavily violet spotted, and strongly keeled, and above with fine white to deep green tesselation. Most typical habitats are narrow shelves below overhanging bluffs and the orchid survives a 4 to 5 month dry period during the cooler winter. The erect, 1 to 2 flowered, 6" to 10" [15-25 cm] long, purple violet or purple brown with dense white or light brown haired inflorescence arising from a broadly ovate, acute, pilose, conduplicate floral bract occurs in the late winter and early spring.