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Paphiopedilum sanderianum
Sander's Paphiopedilum is a rare slipper orchid from northwestern Borneo, famous for extraordinarily long petals that can exceed a metre. It needs warm, humid conditions, shade, and a free-draining, lime-rich growing medium.
Paphiopedilum sanderianum is a rare species of orchid endemic to northwestern Borneo (Gunung Mulu). First discovered in 1885 by F. Sander's collector, J. Foerstermann, the orchid became renowned for the remarkable length of its petals, which can measure over 1 m long. The largest in recent times was one grown in 1999 by Dr. John M. Doherty with petals 90 cm long. Although P. sanderianum has been used as a parent in a number of crosses, none of the resulting hybrids have so far matched the extraordinary lengths of this species' petals. However, soon after the turn of the 20th century, this rare orchid was lost to cultivation and thought to be extinct in the wild, until its rediscovery in 1978 by Ivan Nielson. The wild population of Paphiopedilum sanderianum grows protected in Gunung Mulu National Park.
Distribution - found in and around Gunung Mulu National Park
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 sanderianum 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.
