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Aerangis verdickii (De Wild.) Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 36(2): 121 (1918).
Synonyms:
Angraecum verdickii De Wild., Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Bot., IV, 1: 21 (1902).
Description:
Stem woody, up to 2 cm diam., to 5 cm long but usually very short, with numerous greyish roots 5-9 mm diam. and very elongated. Leaves 2-6, distichous, oblong-ligulate, slightly narrowed towards the base, margins undulate, the apex bilobed, the lobes rounded or acute, equal or subequal, 2-11(-20) mm long, thick and coriaceous or almost succulent in texture, greyish-green, often with a narrow band of red at the margin, 5-20 x 2-5 cm, often split along the mid-vein in herbarium specimens. Inflorescences arising below the leaves bearing 4-12 flowers, up to 40 cm long, usually c. 20 cm; peduncle terete, up to 6 cm long, 5 mm in diameter, bearing several tubular sheaths; rhachis similar, almost straight, bracts broadly ovate, apiculate, up to 10 mm long. Flowers arranged in one or two rows, 1.5-3-5 cm apart; perianth parts reflexed or spreading, white, rarely faintly tinted with pink in the ovary and spur; pedicel with ovary slender and curved, 2-3-8 cm long. Dorsal sepal slightly concave, arching forwards over the column, ovate-oblong with a slightly thickened apiculus, 11-15 x 4-8 mm; lateral sepals spreading or deflexed, often falcate, narrowly oblong-ligulate with a slightly thickened apiculus, 14-21 x 3-5 mm. Petals reflexed, obovate-oblong, apiculate, 12-18 x 3-5-8 mm. Lip oblong-obovate, 11-18 x 5-9 mm, bearing 2 distinct ridges at its base in front of the spur opening and sometimes with additional ridges on either side of these, often deflexed towards the spur, apiculate; spur slender, curved, often slightly bent, thickened and flattened in the apical half, 12-16(-20) cm long. Column terete, enlarged towards the apex, 3-5 mm long; rostellum deflexed, porrect at the tip, wider than the stipes; anther cap with an obtuse beak; pollinia reniform, 1 mm long; stipes slender, widened in the upper third; viscidium ovate.
Habitat:
On branches and trunks of trees, or on rocks, in rather dry woodland and montane scrub in areas where there is a pronounced dry season; 300-2600 m.
Cultivation:
Read more of cultivation of Aerangis verdickii (De Wild.) Schltr.
Notes:
This species is rather variable in the size of its flowers but is easily recognized throughout its wide range by its succulent appearance and by the dry habitats that it occupies. It frequently occurs near isolated hills or conspicuous rock outcrops. The dry season in these areas is also one of very low humidity in the daytime and a wide diurnal range of temperature, so it is somewhat remarkable that a relatively large, non-pseudobulbous, epiphytic orchid has been able to adapt to such a regime. In these areas rainfall is unreliable, in both season and amount, and it is quite probable that flowers of this species will attain only half the normal size in a year of drought.
There is a wealth of material of this species in the Kew herbarium and elsewhere but its identity has remained obscure until recently. In Rhodesia and the Transvaal it has been confused with Aerangis kotschyana, which also has very thick roots and fleshy flowers with two crests on the lip although the latter has rather a different shape. In Zambia it has been confused with Aerangis coriacea, to which it is clearly related, but from which it can be distinguished by its xeromorphic character, differently shaped tepals bearing crests on the lip, and different flowering season.
Distribution:
Rwanda to S. Trop. Africa and Limpopo
References:
Ball, J. 1978. Southern African epiphytic orchids. Conservation Press Ltd., Johannesburg. la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, 1999.The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977; Malawi Orchids La Croix 1983; An Introduction to the Cultivated Angraecoid Orchids of Madagascar Hillerman & Holst 1986; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982; Miniature Orchids Northern 1988; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 No 10 1994 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 66 No 8 1997; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 2 Pope 1998; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler & Burns 2008; A Revision of the African Species of Aerangis (Orchidaceae) Kew Bulletin 34(2):239 • January 1979 by Joyce Stewart.; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 20.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
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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© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.