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Angraecum eburneum subsp. giryamae (Rendle) Senghas & Cribb
Synonym:
Angraecum giryamae Rendle
Description:
A robust species; stems to 1 m (3 ft.) long; roots thick, fleshy, 5 mm in diameter, eventually forming large clumps. Leaves numerous, to 50 x 7 cm (20 x 3 in.), distichous, strap-shaped, unequally and roundly bilobed at the apex. Inflorescences erect, 30-75 (12-30 in.) long, 8- to 20-flowered. Flowers nonresupinate, night-scented; sepals and petals greenish-white; lip white. Pedicel and ovary 1.5-2 cm (1 in.) long. Sepals and petals 32-45 x 5-7 mm, linear-Ianceolate, acuminate. Lip 20-30 x 30-40 mm, transversely oblong, with an apicule 5 mm long; spur 4-6 cm (2 in.) long.
Habitat:
Near the sea it often grows on coral rocks, but inland tends to be epi- phytic; usually below 350 m (1150 ft.) but it has been recorded to 1700 m (5600 ft.).
Cultivation:
Warm or intermediate conditions, in fairly good light. It needs a pot or a basket with a coarse mix.
Notes:
Some authorities still recognize this as a species in its own right, Angraecum giryamae, but it differs from the other three subspecies that occur in various Indian Ocean islands in relatively minor details, such as the proportions of the lip and the length of the spur.
Distribution:
SE. Kenya to E. Tanzania (incl. Pemba, Zanzibar)
References:
AOS Bulletin Vol 26 No 8 1957; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963; Encylopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as Angraecum eburneum var giryamae; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968; Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb, Laurent 1982 as Angraecum eburneum var giryamae; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982 as Angraecum eburneum ssp giryamae; Cultivated Angraecoid Orchids Of Madagascar Hillerman & Holst 1986; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989 as Angraecum eburneum var giryamae; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995 as Angraecum eburneum ssp giryamae; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 as Angraecum eburneum ssp giryamae; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005 as Angraecum eburneum ssp giryamae; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006 as Angraecum eburneum ssp giryamae; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 27.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
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In culture

Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.