Steve,

ALL orchids, being monocots, have three petals and three sepals. In some
cases, strange modifications have taken place obscuring that fact. That the
lip is a petal throws non-orchid-growers off to start with.

In the case of paphs, the two lateral sepals are typically fused into a
single structure known as a "synsepal". And sometimes, it appears somewhat
split, or even totally separated. I have noticed that it does not
necessarily repeat in future bloomings, and I have no idea why it happens in
the first place.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Steve" wrote in message
...
By the way...

1. How many sepals does a Paph have?

2. Are you sure?

I looked at this flower 3 or 4 times over a period of 5 or 6 days before
I realized what was different. I even looked right at the "lateral
sepals" because there were stripes that contributed to the white portion
of the black and white color scheme.

Steve