Home

Aerangis mystacidii (Rchb.f.) Schltr., Orchis 11: 17 (1917).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum mystacidii Rchb.f., Linnaea 20: 677 (1847).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum saundersiae Bolus, Hooker's Icon. Pl. 18: t. 1728 (1888).
Angraecum pachyurum Rolfe in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 138 (1897).
Aerangis mystacidioides Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 598 (1915).
Aerangis pachyura (Rolfe) Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 36(2): 119 (1918).
Description:
Stem woody, up to 4 cm long, 5 mm in diam., bearing numerous greyish roots 2-3 mm in diameter. Leaves 4-8, distichous, oblanceolate, oblong- spathulate or shortly obovate, somewhat oblique, base attenuate, apex bilobed, the lobes equal or strongly unequal, acute, obtuse or rounded, somewhat leathery or fleshy in texture, margins entire, 4-15 x 1-5-2-5 (-4-5) cm. Inflorescences arising below the leaves, horizontal or pendulous, bearing 4-15(-24) flowers; peduncle terete, up to 6 cm long, gradually thickened towards the rhachis, bearing one or two tight sheaths at the base and one broadly ovate sheath half way along its length; rhachis straight, greenish grey or brownish, 5-25 cm long, and 3 mm diam.; bracts triangular ovate, subacute, 3-5 mm long. Flowers erect or horizontal, white with a pinkish or light brown spur; pedicel with ovary 1-1-5(-2) cm long. Dorsal sepal erect or arching forward over the column, oblong, apiculate or acute, 7-13 x 2-4(-5) mm; lateral sepals oblique, deflexed on either side of the lip, elliptic-oblong, apiculate, 8-14 x 2-5-4 mm. Petals nearly always strongly reflexed, oblong, subacute, 6-13 x 2-4-5 mm. Lip deflexed, oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse or apiculate, 7-12 x 3-4-5 mm; spur curving forwards, rarely straight, often somewhat enlarged in the distal half, (4-5-) 6-8 cm long. Column stout and thick, terete and somewhat narrowed below, 2-4 mm high; anther cap rounded, sometimes minutely apiculate; rostellum curved, porrect; pollinia globose; stipes slender; viscidium narrowly elliptic.
Habitat:
Plants are found most often in riverine forest, where they can occur in large numbers on small twigs overhanging the water, but they are also found in evergreen forest, well away from a river, and in woodland areas with high rainfall. Collections have been reported from 200-5900 ft. (60-1800 m), but in South Africa plants are reportedly abundant locally in the margins of the uppermost forests in mountainous regions at up to 4000 ft. (1220 m) where they are often found clinging to small branches in deep shade.
Notes:
This species is very variable in the size, shape and apical lobing of the leaves, in the number of flowers borne along the inflorescence, in the size of its floral segments and in the length of the spur. To a certain extent the variation can be related to geography.
Cultivation:
Read more of cultivation of Aerangis mystacidii (Rchb.f.) Schltr.
Distribution:
SW. Tanzania to S. Africa
References:
Ball, J. 1978. Southern African epiphytic orchids. Conservation Press Ltd., Johannesburg. Hamilton, R. 1988. When does it flower? 2nd ed. Robert M. Hamilton, 9211 Beckwith Road, Richmond, B. C., Canada V6X 1V7. la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Stewart, J., with H. Linder, E. Schlepe, and A. Hall. 1982. Wild Orchids of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Ltd., Johannesburg. 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. 19.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.

In culture	In culture	In culture	In culture	In culture	In culture
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.	Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph Gilles Grunenwald. Image used with kind permission.