OK.....now, as I understand it, a few years ago some paphs appeared in the trade, originally from Laos. These plants had blooms that were typical of gratrixianum, but had very broad leaves, similar to a complex hybrid. Apparently, there had always been a discrepancy in the original description of gratrixianum....the original plant was described as having very broad leaves, while the plants familiar to all of us have narrow leaves. It was speculated that these plants with the broader leaves were of the original type that were described as gratrixianum....Meanwhile, later plants that had been described as affine were considered invalid, due to the priority of the name gratrixianum....however, the plants described as affinie had narrow leaves...so, it was proposed in an article a few years ago (sorry....its late and I'm tired and my memory, normally very good on useless information has retired for the night shortly after my beer was finished....so I do not recall the author or publication..actually, I think the publication was the Orchid Digest...but I am too tired to claim reponsibility..) that the narrow leaved plants are a separate species, that had been, and can now, be properly called affine. I hope this made sense...I am sure that Guido must be familiar with this case...and will be forgiving with my interpretation.........Take care, Eric Muehlbauer in chilly Queens NY, where winter has briefly reappeared.....
_______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
