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Snow-white Paphiopedilum

Paphiopedilum niveum

Snow-white Paphiopedilum
Photo: Dalton Holland Baptista, CC BY-SA 3.0

Paphiopedilum niveum is a small slipper orchid from limestone cliffs in Thailand and Malaysia, with white flowers. It is a popular, easy-to-grow orchid in cultivation, and its wild populations are scarce due to over-collection.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Water when the potting mix is nearly dry, keeping the crown dry and avoiding waterlogging.
Soil
Fine orchid bark mix, or a bark and perlite blend with good drainage.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 15 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Pen. Thailand to N. Pen. Malaysia, Borneo (Tambelan Is.)
Climate
wet tropical

About

Paphiopedilum niveum is a species of orchid occurring from peninsular Thailand to peninsular Malaysia. It is best known on Pulau Langkawi, a group of islands off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Over-collecting from these islands has made the species quite scarce. This orchid grows in cracks on limestone cliffs just above sea level. It is small, only 10 cm across, with flowers that are 5–6 cm across. It flowers from December to August, peaking in April and May. This orchid, and the Thai variety, Paph. niveum var. Ang Thong, have been hybridised extensively, and are easy to grow.

Other Paphiopedilum plants

Pointed Tooth Paphiopedilum · Paphiopedilum adductum · Appleton's Paphiopedilum · Argus Paphiopedilum · Golden slipper orchid · Bearded Paphiopedilum · Beard carrying Paphiopedilum · Egg-in-a-nest orchid · Bougainville Paphiopedilum · Bullen's Paphiopedilum · Callus Paphiopedilum · Paphiopedilum subg. Megastaminodium

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Paphiopedilum niveum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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