Aerangis splendida J.Stewart & la Croix, Kew Bull. 42: 215 (1987).
Description:
Stem woody, upright or pendent, up to 20 cm long but usually much shorter, bearing greyish roots 5-6 mm diam. Leaves 3-8, alternate, usually distichous, 5-12 mm apart, obovate-elliptic with a narrow, sheathing base and unequally bilobed apex, the lobes rounded or bluntly pointed, the longer up to 2-5 cm but usually 8-12 mm long, fleshy or leathery in texture, dark green, 12-25 (-30) cm long, 5-8 cm wide near the apex. Inflorescences axillary racemes, usually pendent, up to 30 cm long, bearing 2-7 flowers, pedicels 6-8 cm long. Flowers in 2 rows, 3-5 cm apart, white, the tepals spreading at first but all parts gradually reflexing away from the column. Tepals all ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 35-50 x 8-12 mm; dorsal sepal erect, laterals strongly reflexed, petals slightly shorter than sepals, lateral sepals narrower than all other parts. Lip deflexed, obovate, truncate, 40-45 mm long, 10-14 mm wide at the middle, narrowing abruptly to a long slender acumen; spur always curved with a single, corkscrew-like twist in its lower half, 20-25 cm long. Column thick, terete below, dilated above, 6-8 mm long, androclinium sloping, rostellum porrect. Fruit a slender capsule, 15 cm x 8 mm.
Habitat:
This rare orchid is found at 3300-4900 ft. (1000-1500 m) where it grows in deep shade in evergreen forest, usually near a river. Plants usually are found growing as epiphytes at a fairly low level on tree trunks and larger branches. I. & E. La Croix (1997) report: "This species is under real threat, as it is known from only three sites in southern Malawi, and is common in only one of these. I do not know its status in Zambia, but suspect that it is rare there, as it has seldom been collected."
Cultivation:
Read more of cultivation of Aerangis splendida J.Stewart & la Croix
Distribution:
Malawi, Zambia
References:
African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Pope, G. ed. 1998. Flora Zambesiaca Vol. 11, pt. 2. Flora Zambesiaca Managing Committee, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 20.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
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| In culture |
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| Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission. |
