"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
I deleted the original message before I remembered to respond, so maybe
Thanks for this. The only thing you missed was the variability I have seen
between successive flowers on the first inflorescence my only phrag has
produced.

Here is what I wrote:
"WRT the one phrag I have, it is a first bloom seedling, presently on its
second flower (i.e. the second flower on the first inflorescence it has ever
produced), and it seems to me this flower is quite different from the first
on the same inflorescence. The first had MUCH richer colours, pink and
yellow, while the second seems to have the same colours but mostly washed
out. Also, the laterial petals on the first (they are petals aren't they,
and not the sepals?) were quite flat while on the second they are twisted
like a cork screw. The top sepal on both was and is quite flat. Is such
variability in the flowers normal for phrags in particular, or for lady's
slippers in general?"

You wrote: "And they aren't that similar, really, not if you have seen a lot
of each." This is undoubtedly why I can't tell the difference yet, just
looking at the leaves and flowers. I am nowhere near the stage where I want
to be dissecting such pretty flowers. If they are as different as Dends are
from phals, it is just a matter of time before I can tell the difference.
But it seems to me that the flowers of phals and those of even the phal type
dends are quite different, much more so than those of the lady's slipper
genera. Maybe that is a false impression created by the lady's slipper
cultivars that appeal to me.

Cheers,

Ted