Aerangis maireae la Croix & J.Stewart, Orchid Rev. 106(1222): 227 (1998).
Description:
Epiphytic herb with short woody stem, branching at base. Roots numerous, 2-3 mm diameter. Leaves about five, lying in one plane, to S.? x 3 cm, obovate. unequally bilobed at apex, the longer lobe 9-12 mm long, acute, the shorter lobe 1-2 mm long, subacute, or ± absent. Inflorescence c. 15 cm long. 2-4 flowered. Peduncle 10 cm long, pale green with brownish spots, with one tight, sheathing bract ~-8 mm long at about halfway and another near the base. Pedicel and ovary -4^ mm long: bract mm long. Flowers strongly night-scented. white in the centre, the apical half of sepals, petals and lip deep salmon pink: spur salmon pmk. Sepals and petals all narrowing abruptly in apical half to become ong acuminate, almost caudate. Dorsal sepal arching over column, 40 x 7.5 mm, including an acumen 22 mm long; lateral sepals spreading, 40 x 6 mm, acumen 25 mm long, the basal part oblanceolate, oblique. Petals reflexed, 30 x 7 mm, the acumen 15 mm long. Lip 35 mm long, narrow at the base, then widening to 9 mm across so that this lower part is almost suborbicular, then narrowing abruptly to an acumen 22 mm long; spur 21-22 cm long, forming one loose coil, slender but very slightly inflated at the apex. Column 9 mm long, slender, with a tooth at the base of the stigmatic cavity; anther cap crested. Capsule cylindrical, c. 10 x 0.5 cm.
Habitat:
Epiphytic c 6 m above ground on trunk of large tree in forest remnant, c. 2000 m.
Cultivation:
Aerangis maireae grows well in cultivation, in intermediate conditions, mounted on bark and in moderate shade. Because the species branches at the base, it has been possible to grow on several plants from the original collection: one of these kept in heavy shade under the staging has grown well but not flowered. The plant flowers in late October; self pollination is the only option to increase the stock and it is to be hoped that a capsule currently developing on one plant will not turn out to be sterile. An interesting point is that Mrs. Spurrier describes this plant as having the strongest scent of any species of Aerangis she has grown, in a greenhouse in north-west Scotland. I could detect no scent at all, although other species of Aerangis retain their scent in cultivation.
Distribution:
Tanzania
References:
la Croix & J.Stewart Orchid Rev. 106(1222): 227 (1998);WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 19.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
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