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Species library › Paphiopedilum › Paphiopedilum barbatum
Orchids Well documented

Paphiopedilum barbatum

A warm-growing slipper orchid from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, with 5-8 mottled leaves up to 15 cm long and usually one purple-and-white flower 8-10 cm across on a tall purple stem. It is endangered in the wild and one of the parents of many classic mottled-leaf hybrids.

Paphiopedilum barbatum
Photo: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

It grows in leaf litter and humus on the forest floor and on mossy rocks in shaded, humid lowland and hill forest. Wikipedia describes it as terrestrial or epiphytic; most plants sit in humus rather than high on trees.

About 200-1300 m; GBIF specimens with elevations cluster between about 300 and 950 m.

Peninsular MalaysiaSouthern ThailandSumatra

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.