Aerangis distincta J.Stewart & la Croix, Kew Bull. 42: 217 (1987).
Description:
Stem woody, upright or pendent, up to 15 cm long, but usually much shorter, bearing greyish roots 3-4 mm diam. Leaves 3-6, alternate, usually distichous, 3-8 mm apart, narrowly triangular with a narrow sheathing base and broad apex which is somewhat unequally divided into two bluntly pointed lobes, the longer lobe 10-15 mm long, leathery in texture with longitudinal ridges, dark green, 4-15 cm long, 12-20 mm wide near the apex. Inflorescences axillary racemes, usually pendent, up to 18 cm long, bearing 2-5 flowers 2-3 cm apart, peduncle terete with 2 tubular sheaths; rachis slightly zig-zag, gradually tapering; bracts broadly triangular, acute, up to 8 mm long. Flowers white, tinged with deep pink; pedicels straight 4-4-5 cm long. Tepals all narrowly lanceolate-acuminate; dorsal sepal erect, or arching over the column, 25-45 mm long, 7-9 mm wide near the base; lateral sepals reflexed, narrow throughout their length, markedly longer than the petals, 35-50 x 5-7 mm; petals spreading or reflexed, 25-38 x 4-5-6 mm. Lip deflexed, elliptic, markedly and abruptly acuminate halfway along its length, 27-35 mm long, 7-10 mm wide in the lower half; spur straight, or slightly incurved, 13-23 cm long. Column thick, rounded below dilated above, 5 mm long, androclinium sloping, rostellum porrect; pollinia 2, ovoid, stipes flat, widened in the upper part, viscidium rectangular or oval, the lateral margins incurved over the sides of the rostellum. Fruit a slender capsule up to 15 cm long.
Habitat:
This orchid is found throughout Malawi. They usually grow at elevations of 3300-5750 ft. (1000-1750 m), but plants are occasionally are found as low as 2150 ft. (650 m). Plants grow as epiphytes on tree trunks and small branches, usually not far above the ground, in moderate shade. La Croix (1997) reported that in the wild plants have been found growing in forest under conditions so dark that a light meter did not register. Plants also grow and flower well in rather bright light, but under these conditions the leaves become rather yellow.
Cultivation:
Read more of Cultivation of Aerangis distincta J.Stewart & la Croix,
Distribution:
Malawi
References:
la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR;WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 18.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
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