Paphiopedilum chaoi S. H. Hu; P. dollii Lückel.

Plants lithophytic or terrestrial. Leaves 3-6, distichous; blade abaxially carinate and pale green with purple-brown speckles at very base, adaxially uniformly deep green or rarely obscurely tessellated with deep and pale green, narrowly oblong, 12-23 × 1.1-1.8(-2.4) cm, leathery, unequally bilobulate or minutely tridenticulate at apex. Scape arching, terminating in a solitary flower; peduncle green to brownish green, 12-17 cm, brown-purple pubescent; floral bract brownish or brownish green, narrowly ovate, conduplicate, 2-2.6 × 0.6-1.8 cm, ciliate; pedicel and ovary 3.5-5 cm, purple-brown pubescent. Flower 6-8 cm in diam.; dorsal sepal yellowish green to dull yellow with large purple-brown spots; synsepal similar in color to dorsal sepal with much fewer spots; petals pink-violet to light purple-red, with dark purple or blackish purple large spots in basal half or throughout; lip pink-violet or light purple-red, with a yellowish rim; staminode yellowish, slightly flushed with purplish or brownish, with a green or brown-yellow umbo. Dorsal sepal usually erect, broadly ovate to suborbicular-ovate, 3-3.5 × 3.2-3.8 cm, abaxially puberulent, minutely ciliate, recurved at basal margin, margin undulate, apex obtuse; synsepal elliptic-ovate, 2.7-3.2 × 1.4-1.8 cm, slightly concave, abaxially puberulent, minutely ciliate. Petals spreading horizontally, spatulate, 3.2-3.9 × 1.4-1.8 cm, purple hirsute at adaxial base, minutely ciliate, obtuse or obscurely tridenticulate at apex; lip helmet-shaped, 3.7-4.3 cm; pouch ellipsoid, 2.3-2.8 × 2.2-2.5 cm. Staminode obcordate or broadly obovate, 6-8 × 7-8 mm, with bubblelike papillae and a small umbo adaxially, apex emarginate. Fl. Sep-Nov.

This species is variable in floral coloring and petal shape. Paphiopedilum henryanum var. christae Braem (Schlechteriana 2: 157. 1991) was described as lacking the heavy spotting on the dorsal sepal and petals. In 1999, the variety was reduced to a form (f. christae) by the same author (in G. J. Braem, C. O. Baker & M. L. Baker, Gen. Paphiopedilum Nat. Hist. & Cult. 2: 206. 1999).

Paphiopedilum tigrinum f. huberae Koopowitz (Orchidee (Hamburg) 53: 518. 2001) may be of Chinese origin. It seems to be a variant of this species rather than of P. tigrinum.

Crevices of shaded cliffs or rocky and well-drained places in evergreen broad-leaved forests or in thickets in limestone areas; 900-1300 m. SW Guangxi, SE Yunnan [N Vietnam].