Aerangis flexuosa (Ridl.) Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 36(2): 116 (1918).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Radinocion flexuosum Ridl., Bol. Soc. Brot. 5: 200 (1887).
Angraecum flexuosum (Ridl.) Rolfe in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 139 (1897).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum elegans Rolfe, Bol. Soc. Brot. 9: 140 (1891).
Aerangis elegans (Rolfe) Dandy in A.W.Exell, Cat. Vasc. Pl. S. Tomé: 334 (1944).
Description:
Stem erect, woody, 1-3-5 cm long, c. 5 mm diam., bearing many long roots. Leaves 3-5, oblanceolate, unequally bilobed at the tip, one lobe acute, 5-6 mm long, the other rounded or absent, 5-15 x 1-5-3 cm. Inflorescences axillary, or arising below the leaves, slender, horizontal or pendulous, to 26 cm long; peduncle with 2-3 sheaths, 6 cm long; rhachis straight or slightly zigzag; bracts broadly ovate, obtuse, cucullate, 3-6 cm long. Flowers 10-18, white, spreading, 8-20 mm apart, pedicel with ovary 2-2.5 cm long. Sepals and petals lanceolate, 10-13 x 2.5-3 mm. Lip lanceolate, acute and almost apiculate, 10-11 x 2-3 mm; spur widened at the base, but quickly tapering to the slender tip 19-25 mm long. Column slender below, inflated above, 5-8 mm long; anther cap small, slightly beaked; rostellum slender, porrect; pollinia reniform-globose; stipes slender; viscidium ? circular; stigmatic surface large, rhomboid.
Habitat:
No details of its preferred habitat are available.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Notes:
One of the sheets at Coimbra which forms part of the type material bears a plant with the apical flowers of the inflorescence open and the remainder still in the bud stage. The wide mouth of the spur and the relatively long slender column easily distinguish this species from all the others with small flowers.
Distribution:
São Tomé
References:
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/
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