Appearance
Leaves are 10-25 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, above mottled dark green and grey-green, below purple-spotted, basal margins ciliate.Inflorescence is 10-23 cm long, purple, shortly pubescent.
Plant blooms in the spring with a single 9 cm wide flower.
Naming
Derived from the name of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty; named for the beauty of the flower.Synonyms:
Cypripedium venustum Wall. ex Sims (basionym)
Stimegas venustum (Wall. ex Sims) Raf.
Cypripedium pardinum Rchb.f.
Cypripedium venustum var. measuresianum auct.
Paphiopedilum pardinum (Rchb.f.) Pfitzer
Paphiopedilum venustum var. pardinum (Rchb.f.) Pfitzer
Cordula venusta (Wall. ex Sims) Rolfe
Paphiopedilum venustum var. bhutanensis Pradhan
Paphiopedilum venustum var. rubrum Pradhan
Paphiopedilum venustum var. teestaensis Pradhan
Paphiopedilum venustum f. measuresianum (auct.) Braem
Paphiopedilum venustum f. pardinum (Rchb.f.) Braem
Habitat
Grows in a variety of habitats at 60-1350 m, sometimes in jungle undergrowth or bamboo thickets at the base of cliffs, sometimes in tree crotches.References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
http://www.slipperorchids.info/paphdatasheets/sigmatopetalum/venustum/