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Phragmipedium kovachii
Kovach's Phragmipedium is a rare slipper orchid from Peruvian cloud forest limestone cliffs, known for its huge pink to purple flowers. It needs cool, humid, lime-rich conditions and gentle light, and it is critically endangered in the wild, so only buy plants propagated in cultivation.
Phragmipedium kovachii is an orchid species found to be new to science in 2001, native to the Andean cloud forests of northern Peru. A species with terrestrial habit and growing in clumps of several individuals, it displays showy pink to purple flowers up to 20 cm (8 in) wide. It is currently considered a critically endangered species by the IUCN, due to overcollection in the wild.
Phragmipedium kovachii will thrive in any moist growing medium with calcium content similar to the soil of its habitat, always watching for the pH levels. Fertilizers must be applied carefully especially in young plants, as fertilizers contain salts. Light requirements are medium, avoiding intense light especially when young; mature individuals can tolerate more light. Being an orchid of high elevations, temperature must be in the range of its natural habitat.
Phragmipedium kovachii is known only from a small area of five localities in the regions of Amazonas and San Martín, Peru. It grows in primary montane forest, at 1600–1950 (−2000) m of elevation, on limestone cliffs. The habitat of this species provides constant rainfall, organic matter and calcareous soil, with a pH of 6.8–7.1 (−7.9). Temperature in the area has an average of 26 °C in summer and 18 °C in winter; precipitation average is in the range of 1,000–1,500 mm (39–59 in).
Besse's Phragmipedium · Boissier's Phragmipedium · Reed grass-like Phragmipedium · Mandarin orchid · Phragmipedium chapadense · Fischer's Phragmipedium · Hirtz' Phragmipedium · Klotsch's Phragmipedium · Phragmipedium lindenii · Lindley's Phragmipedium · Long-Leaf Phragmipedium · Pearce's Phragmipedium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phragmipedium kovachii 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.
