Hybridizers and species fanciers alike were thrilled with the introduction into cultivation in the mid 1960s of Paphiopedilum sukhakulii. This newly discovered species was uniquely endowed with wide, flat petals showered with spots, hundreds of them, and sported a nice reddish shaded lip, along with excellent natural spread of the flower, for the petals of most of the species are held nearly flat out, and are nearly perpendicular to the stem.
Currently there are over 800 first through fifth generation hybrids using Paph. sukhakulii as parent, grandparent, great grandparent, etc. Among some of the more notable hybrids are Raisin Pie, Dragon Knife, Tuxedo Junction, Jeff Lapoint, Macabre, and Evelyn Rollke. (It is interesting to note that some of the more successful hybrids in this category used Paph. sukhakulii on both the top and bottom of the pedigree, essentially linebreeding to maintain the wide petals.) In using Paph. sukhakulii fma aureum first and then fma album, some green and white hybrids were generated, amoung them: Luna Moth, Key Lime, and Mandarin Dragon. Vinicolor parents coupled with sukhakulii, and its progeny, produced Voodoo Magic, Mad Wine, New Wine, Pacific Magic, and others too numerous to include here. A breakthrough hybrid, Paphiopedilum Goodstart was one of the first of the successful complex/vinicolor crosses that incorporated Paph. sukhakulii in its close-up pedigree, producing a near-vinicolored complex of excellent color and form.
