Angraecum angustipetalum Rendle, Cat. Pl. Oban: 106 (1913).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Angraecoides angustipetala (Rendle) Szlach., Mytnik & Grochocka, Biodivers. Res. Conservation 29: 10 (2013).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum boonei De Wild., Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles 5: 183 (1916).
Description:
Epiphytic herb; stem leafy, elongated, up to c. 40 cm long. Roots borne along the stem, c. 1 mm in diameter. Leaves many, distichous, 3.5–5.5 × 1.5–1.7 cm, ovate or elliptic, very unequally 2-lobed at the apex, with one lobe ± absent, the other to 4 mm long and acute. Inflorescences borne along the stem, opposite leaves, 1-flowered; peduncle c. 1 mm long. Flowers white. Sepals 13–18 × 1.5 mm, linear-lanceolate. Petals 11–12 mm long, almost filiform from a broader base. Lip c. 15 × 5 mm, ovate; spur 10–11 mm long, the last 5 mm swollen and fusiform.
Cultivation:
This it would seem that it should be mounted on bark, in a shaded and humid situation, at intermediate to warm temperatures.
Habitat:
No details of habitat are given for the Malawi collection; elsewhere Angraecum angustipetalum occurs in dense evergreen forest
Notes:
In the Flora Zambesiaca area, this species is known only from 2 collections. These were made by the same person in Malawi, between 1915 and 1919. Although the area has been well collected and this species actively sought, it has not been found since. As most of the land around the base of Mt. Mulanje has been planted with tea, it is possible that the species no longer exists in the area; however, if it came from the forests on one of the plateaux, it could still reappear. It is not the only example of a species with a West African distribution occurring in Malawi; that of Eggelingia clavata is similar.
Distribution:
W. & WC. Trop. Africa to Malawi
References:
AOS Bulletin Vol 39 No 10 1970; African Orchids In cultivation and the Wild La Croix 1997; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans and Campbell 2006; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 24.01-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
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