The Paphiopedilum – “paphs” to their many admirers – are also more prosaically known as the Lady Slipper Orchids. Indeed, pedilum means ‘slipper,’ which the lip of the flower resembles. (Paphios was a temple in Cyprus dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, or Paphia.)
This is confusing, as the paphs are only distantly related to our native Cypripedium Lady Slipper Orchids. As with these though they are usually terrestrial but there the resemblance ends – sometimes they are epiphytic or even lithophytic (growing on rocks). They are tropical inhabitants of rainforests from the Himalayas to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. About 60 species are known from the wild but there are many hybrids available in cultivation.
