Aerangis luteo-alba var rhodosticta

Two stars of our warm orchid collection are our two clones of Aerangis luteo-alba var. rhodosticta.

This species is native to tropical Africa from Cameroon across to Kenya and Tanzania. It is pollinated by moths and so is fragrant at night as well creamy white to show up in the forest at night. The red column helps the moth to locate the entrance to the spur full of nectar (look just below the red column).

As you can see from the photos we have two very distinct clones - a small growing small round flowered clone (mounted on cork) and a larger growing, larger pointed flowered clone in a pot.

This is a lovely orchid to grow – it enjoys a warm and shady environment and we grow the species in our indoor Ikea cabinets with a minimum of 17C. It comes from riverine forest (the humid forest found along rivers) from 1200m altitude to 2200m altitude and so it would also grow happily a little cooler. Like Aerangis and related species we have seen in coastal forest near Durban (South Africa) this species is found on twigs and small branches with roots running long distances to collect available moisture.

The species is quick to flower from seed and we will be producing seed from sib crossed between these two lovely clones.