Ancistrorhynchus crystalensis P.J.Cribb & Laan, Kew Bull. 44: 481 (1989).
Description:
An epiphytic or rarely a lithophytic herb with a short stem, up to 6 cm long, c. 1 cm diam., covered by sheathing leaf bases; roots more or less basal, 3-5 mm diam. Leaves 6-13, distichous, arcuate-spreading, arranged in a fan, coriaceous, linear, unequally bilobed at apex, 30-50 x 1-8-2 cm, each apical lobe bearing 2-3 short teeth, articulated to the sheathing leaf bases, 2-5-4 cm long. Inflorescences 1-2, emerging through the lower leaf bases, up to 3-5 cm long, subcapitate, densely 10-13-flowered; peduncle covered by large sterile imbricate bracts c. 1 cm long. Flowers large in the genus, white with a green mark on the lip; pedicel and ovary 12-13 mm long, scabrid. Dorsal sepal elliptic, obtuse, 9-10 mm long, 4 mm wide; lateral sepals obliquely oblong- elliptic, obtuse, 10-11 x 4 mm; all sepals scabrid on the outer surface. Petals oblong-elliptic, obtuse, 7-8 x 5 mm. Lip 3-lobed, 5-6 mm long, 8-9 mm wide, concave; side lobes erect, semi-circular; midlobe transversely elliptic- semicircular, broader than long; spur ? parallel to the ovary, 13-14 mm long, dilated at the mouth, constricted 4-5 mm from the apex, inflated- ellipsoidal at apex. Column 4 mm long; pollinia 2, ovoid; stipites oblanceolate, joined at base; viscidium oblong-elliptic; rostellum bifid, reflexed in the basal half, abruptly recurved in the middle so that the apical half is porrect.
Habitat:
Epiphyte or lithophyte, flowering in August.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
WC. Trop. Africa
References:
Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans and Campbell 2006; WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 10.03-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.
| In culture | In culture | In culture |
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| Photograph©Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission. | Photograph©Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission. | Photograph©Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission. |
