Aerangis biloba (Lindl.) Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 598 (1915).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum bilobum Lindl., Edwards's Bot. Reg. 26(Misc.): 69 (1840).
Angorchis biloba (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 651 (1891).
Rhaphidorhynchus bilobus (Lindl.) Finet, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 54(9): 39 (1907).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum apiculatum Hook., Bot. Mag. 71: t. 4159 (1845).
Angraecum campyloplectron Rchb.f., Bonplandia (Hannover) 3: 226 (1855).
Angorchis campyloplectron (Rchb.f.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 651 (1891).
Aerangis campyloplectron (Rchb.f.) Garay, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 23: 157 (1972).
Description:
Stem woody, upright, up to 20 cm long, but usually much shorter. Leaves 4-10, alternate distichous, obovate, apex usually unequally bilobed, the lobes acute or obtuse and with a shallow sinus between them, dark green in colour and the surface black-dotted, glossy when young becoming dull with age, venation markedly reticulate, up to 18 x 3-6 cm near the apex. Inflorescences axillary racemes, pendulous, 10-40(-60) cm long, bearing 8-20 flowers; peduncle terete, 2-3 mm in diameter, bearing 2-3 loose sheaths; rhachis straight, gradually tapering; bracts broadly ovate, obtuse, 3-4 mm long. Flowers in 2 rows, 1-5-2-5 cm apart, white, often tinted with pink or brown in the pedicel and spur; pedicel with ovary straight 2-3 cm long. Tepals spreading, all narrowly lanceolate, acute, and similar in size, 12-25 x up to 6 mm. Lip deflexed, oblanceolate, cuspidate, 15-25 x 6-8 mm; spur straight or curved, (3-)5-6(-7.5) cm long. Column short and stout, 5-6 mm long; anther cap bearing a central, granulated crest; rostellum deflexed; pollinia reniform; stipes broad, 2 mm long; viscidium oblong, the edges clasping the blunt-ended rostellum.
Habitat:
Plants grow at elevations up to 2300 ft. (700 m) in forests, woodlands, and thickets, and they are often found on cultivated crops such as cocoa.
Cultivation:
Read more of Cultivation of Aerangis biloba (Lindl.) Schltr.
Notes:
This species was the first member of the genus to be grown in cultivation having been introduced to Europe from the coast of Ghana prior to 1840. As in the coastal east African species, A. kirkii, it is usually the apical, or one of the central flowers of the inflorescence that opens first, and this flower is always the largest on a particular raceme. The flowers are more closely spaced than in any other species of similar size, and in number and shape they distinguish it from all other species. The column with its crested anther cap and stout stipes is also quite distinctive. Long blooming and frequent blooming orchid species.
Distribution:
W. & WC. Trop. Africa
References:
Hamilton, R. 1988. When does it flower? 2nd ed. Robert M. Hamilton, 9211 Beckwith Road, Richmond, B. C., Canada V6X 1V7. Hawkes, A. (1965) 1987. Encyclopaedia of cultivated orchids. Faber and Faber, London. la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Tropicos W3, Missouri Botanical Garden, Stewart, J. (1979). A Revision of the African Species of Aerangis (Orchidaceae) Kew Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1979), pp. 239-319 ;WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 18.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
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| In culture | In culture | In culture | In culture close |
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| Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission. | Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission. | Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission. | Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission. |
