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Gallery
| Original Paintings |
| Patricia Laspino |
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| Obsession |
| Original Oil on Canvas, 60" x 36" Gallery Wrapped on 1 1/2" Depth Stretcher Bar |
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American Orchid Society - Director of Education Note:
The inspiration for this painting, Phragmipedium kovachii, is considered by many to be the most striking orchid species
discovered in the Neotropics in over 100 years. Described in 2002 from an illegally imported plant, the species is found only
in the Amazonian jungle of northeastern Peru. While all Phragmipedium and Paphiopedilum species are strictly controlled
by CITES regulations regarding endangered species, an estimated 5,000 plants including seedlings were stripped from at
least two of the known habitats between its formal description in 2002 and a return to the habitat in 2003 making Obsession
an apt title for this work. On June 10th, 2004 the US District Court in Tampa, Florida sentences Michael Kovach after whom
the species is names to two years probation and a $1,000 fine for illegally transporting the type specimen from Peru to the
United States. The flowers of this species, in addition to being a striking purple color – previously unknown in
Phragmipedium, are huge for the genus; reaching up to 10 inches (24cm) across. The species grows under relatively cool
conditions (average mean temperature about 16C [61F] at between 1900 and 2100 meters (6100 – 6800 feet) on steep
limestone cliff faces with constant moisture. Little is known with regard to the pollinator of this striking species although
Phragmipedium kovachii appears to mimic a local Tibouchina species with which it grows, both species flowering between
October and March.
The inspiration for this painting, Phragmipedium kovachii, is considered by many to be the most striking orchid species
discovered in the Neotropics in over 100 years. Described in 2002 from an illegally imported plant, the species is found only
in the Amazonian jungle of northeastern Peru. While all Phragmipedium and Paphiopedilum species are strictly controlled
by CITES regulations regarding endangered species, an estimated 5,000 plants including seedlings were stripped from at
least two of the known habitats between its formal description in 2002 and a return to the habitat in 2003 making Obsession
an apt title for this work. On June 10th, 2004 the US District Court in Tampa, Florida sentences Michael Kovach after whom
the species is names to two years probation and a $1,000 fine for illegally transporting the type specimen from Peru to the
United States. The flowers of this species, in addition to being a striking purple color – previously unknown in
Phragmipedium, are huge for the genus; reaching up to 10 inches (24cm) across. The species grows under relatively cool
conditions (average mean temperature about 16C [61F] at between 1900 and 2100 meters (6100 – 6800 feet) on steep
limestone cliff faces with constant moisture. Little is known with regard to the pollinator of this striking species although
Phragmipedium kovachii appears to mimic a local Tibouchina species with which it grows, both species flowering between
October and March.
