Paphiopedilum callosum

Finally, a member of the barbata group flowered.  I bought this Paph at the recent Singapore Garden Festival at Gardens By The Bay from one of the Thai booths at the market place.  I was initially reluctant to buy them because i have no confidence in growing Paphs in the barbata group.  The seller was however very sure that his plants are able to grow in Singapore since he is growing them in similar climate conditions in Bangkok.  The plants were grown in Seramis clay granules with a Compost type potting mix.  Not long after, the roots started to appear and then a flower spike.  I was still not sure whether the bud will suffer bud blast like so many similar plants i had before so i did not really take pictures of the bud as it was developing.  However, to my surprise, the bud developed successfully and is now fully open.

It is not the best color or shape by callosum standard but nonetheless it is the first successful bloom of P.callosum in my collection.

I believe this is a variety called Paphiopedilum callosum var. thailandense.  Found in southern Thailand and is very closely related to the Malaysian species P.barbatum.  It seems to me that the very brightly colored flowers are usually found growing in higher altitudes.  Maybe cooler conditions tend to produce plants with more brightly colored flowers.  But then i may be wrong.