Diaphananthe gabonensis (Summerh.) P.J.Cribb & Carlsward, Phytotaxa 71: 45 (2012).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Chamaeangis gabonensis Summerh., Kew Bull. 13: 86 (1958).
Description:
Plant with robust stems up to 5 cm high. Leaves numerous, borne very close together, long and narrow, linear or narrowly lanceolate-linear, fleshy, with upcurved margins, up to 45 cm long, 1 cm wide. Inflorescences pendent, arising below the leaves, 14-25 cm long, bearing many flowers in groups of 2 or 3 at each node; bracts very small, up to 2 mm long; pedicel with ovary slender, 4 mm long. Flowers yellowish, small; dorsal sepal ovate, apiculate, convex, 3 mm long, 2 mm wide; lateral sepals obliquely elliptic, apiculate, 5 mm long, 2 mm wide; petals lanceolate, acute, 2.5-3 mm long, 1.2 mm wide; lip oblong, widest near the base, shortly 3-lobed at the apex, 3 mm long, 1.7 mm wide; spur bent or curved, slender and slightly inflated in the apical half, 15 mm long.
Habitat:
In evergreen forests low on trunks and branches at elevations of 100 to 2200 meters, flowering in October.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus, hot to cool growing, monopodial epiphyte.
Notes:
This species seems to be close to Chamaeangis vesicata but has narrower leaves and a differently shaped lip and spur.
Distribution:
S. Cameroon to Gabon
References:
Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977; Orchids of the Central African Republic - A Provisional Checklist Cribb & Fay 1987; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 2 Pope 1998; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 26.02-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
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