I was looking at the older posts, when I came upon Paphiopedilum giganteafolium. Is this the same plant as Paph. ayubii? I had Paph. ayubii, and was looking at the posted pictures of that species, and it looks EXACTLY like the grower's Paphiopedilum ayubii he had in bloom. This is the plant in which I talked about sending up shoots on these rhizomatic stems, that I used to have near blooming size in my collection. This was possibly my only sort-of-favorite in the Section of roth, phill, kolap, and roeb..... I liked the red pouch on the grower's plant, and the reticulated petals. The leaf span was huge, about 4 feet long (no joke), reminding me of a large Phragmipedium lindleyanum, mine having about 2.5 to 3 (?) foot long leaves. This species is truly living up to their name, and are no joke. If ayubii and gigantifolium are the same species, than the same plant was being described at the same time, or was there something lacking in the description that someone else described it?

The plants need a ton of space, and assume they are not easy to grow. I never got mine to bloom, I am unsure if ut was blooming sized or not.....

Anyways, this was a good bloom I saw posted here, were they legal when I had mine (1-2 years ago)? I saw that flasks are the only legal plants of this species in the US, is this still true?

ttyl,
-PM

Ayubii is gigantifolium.

I wonder why it is encountered under ayubii then? I read on the post that it was discovered in 1998, I assume there was a competition to see who can get the description out first.....

Seeing the pics again, I wish I kept my 2 fans of ayubii, or atleast one of those weird stemmed shoots..... maybe it would be blooming by now.

Are they available here in the US legally? I am hoping mine was in fact legal.....

ttyl,
-PM

No, gigantifolium/ayubii is illegal here except from plants in flask from Orchid Inn. For now. So your plant are illegal. I would further suggest you don't speak any further of them, nor encourage anyone else to bring scrutiny upon themselves for fear of wrongful incrimination, such as George Norris.