Angraecum rutenbergianum

These flowers look similar to the species I recently posted, Angraecum dideri, but both plant and flowers are much smaller.  Like Angraecum dideri, Angraecum rutenbergianum is from Madagascar and prefers cooler temperatures.  The plant grows to 8 cm and the flowers are almost as large as the plant, 5.5 cm with a 12 cm spur or nectary.  The flowers are fragrant at night.  They are held very close to the plant.  My plant is mounted on a piece of cedar and this is the first time I've bloomed it.  The plant is still quite small, barely beyond the seedling stage.

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Angraecum dideri

This is a species that has been blooming twice a year for me.  It bloomed last October and now it is blooming again with three flowers, though only one is shown in the photos.  Angraecum dideri is from Madagascar and is a small plant in comparison to some of the other species in the genus.  Its root, however, ramble everywhere and it is always for that reason a bit difficult to contain in my limited space..  The plant is an elongated fan of leaves which grows to 20 cm or and produces new growths along the stem (there are two new growths on my plant, one of which is blooming).  The flowers, produced one or two per spike, are 6 cm with a 10 cm nectary or spur extending from the back of the flower.  The flowers are a very pale green with a while lip and are fragrant at night.

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Angraecum dideri

Angraecum dideri is one of the smaller Angraecums, but by no means a miniature, especially when the roots are taken in account.  They are numerous and wander everywhere attaching themselves to anything they can.  The plant, an elongated fan of leaves, grows to 20 cm or a bit taller and produces new growths along the stem.  The flowers, produced one or two per spike are 6 cm with a 10 cm nectary or spur extending from the back of the flower.  The flowers are a very pale green with a while lip and are fragrant at night.  The species is from Madagascar.

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Angraecum urschianum

Angraecum urschianum is a tiny species from Madagascar.  The plant is only a couple of centimeters tall with flowers that are as large as the plant and a flower spur or nectary that is huge for the size of the flower, nearly 15 cm in length.  The flowers are probably pollinated by a night-flying moth with a tongue long enough to reach the nectar in the bottom of the spur.  My plant is a seedling blooming for the second time.

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Angraecum cf. breve

My Angraecum breve is in bloom again, this time with two flowers.  It had one flower last year and I pollinated that and harvested the pod just a few weeks ago, but I had worried that holding a seed pod for a year would weaken the plant and that it wouldn't bloom this year.  To my surprise it started two spikes.

The plant is a micro-miniature, a little fan of patterned leaves 4 cm (1.5 in.) across.  The star-shaped flower is 3 cm (1 in. plus) in size and the spur is over 10 cm long (approx. 4.5 in.) when the flower opens and it is fully uncurled.  The sepals are greenish when first open but soon fade to a lovely crystalline white.

Once again I took photos at different stages of the flowers' development.  The flower's coiled spur I find particularly charming when it is first tightly curled beneath the flower and then also as it begins to uncurl.  Very early on in its development the nectar is already visible in the spur, which is nearly transparent.

Developing Buds

Newly Opened Flowers

Mature Flowers

I received the following note from a friend: "I should tell you that your plant and the others that have come out of Madagascar recently under the name of Angraecum breve don't match the description for the species, so until the taxonomists can work out what this different, wonderful species is, it might be good to include 'cf.' in the name e.g. Angraecum cf. breve or just Angraecum sp. 'breve'."

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Angraecum didieri

Angraecum dideri is one of the smaller Angraecums with very large flowers for the size of the plant, but it is by no means a miniature, and for that reason I have sold my plant when it was finished blooming.  It also puts out roots everywhere which attach to everything, at least in my conditions and was taking up way too much room in my plant case.

The plant grows to 20 cm tall and carries one or two 6 cm flowers per spike.  The flowers are even larger if the 10 cm spur is included in the measuring.  The flowers have a beautiful crystalline texture and a strong, sweet scent.  They are best grown mounted and are tolerant of cool to warm temperatures, blooming once a year for me in early summer.

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Angraecum urschianum

Angraecum urschianum is a micro-miniature species in a genus that includes some massive plants and flowers.  It is also in the same genus as the plant whose flowers when seen by Darwin were the basis for his prediction, later proved true, that a moth would be found with a twelve inch tongue (the flowers have nectaries that are a foot long).  This plant is a bit less than 3 cm across and the flowers are 2.5 cm with a 10 cm spur or nectary.  It is hard to realize from the photos how tiny this plant is, but an American quarter would easily cover the whole plant.  I have not detected any fragrance but have not checked the plant at night and suspect that it is fragrant then.  The plant is from Madagascar.

First a couple of pictures of the flower bud with the spur still coiled:

Then some of the opened flower with the spur uncoiled:

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Angraecum breve

This tiny orchid is from Madagascar, a country that has some very unique and wonderful orchids.  It belongs to a group of orchids that have white and green flowers and very long spurs.  It is also fragrant, especially at night, which means it is pollinated by night-flying insects who are attracted by the fragrance and who use the nectar for food.

I am totally charmed by this plant, however, both for its size, for its white flowers and for the spur which gradually uncurls as the flower opens.  Most Angraecums are large plants and some are huge. This plant is a little fan 4 cm (1.5 in.) across, the flower is 3 cm (1 in. plus) in size and the spur is over 10 cm long (approx. 4.5 in.) when the flower opens and it is fully uncurled.

It was an Angraecum, a different species and a much larger plant, with flowers carrying a 12 inch spur, that Darwin used to predict the existence of a moth with a 12 inch tongue. This flower is probably also moth pollinated.  I've included pictures of the unopened bud with the spur curled up and a pictures taken as the flower opened and the spur uncurled.

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