!Arachnis flos-aeris (L.) Rchb. f. 1886
Photos by Jay Pfahl
Photo by Nik Fahmi
MOSTLY 
Common Name The Air Flower Arachnis
Flower Size 4" [10 cm]
Found on the Malaysian pennisula as well as Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines in mangroves and along rivers at elevations of sea level to 1000 meters as a as a large to giant sized, hot to warm growing monopodial, climbing epiphyte or scrambling lithophyte often over 15' tall, with terete, elongate, scandent stems carrying ligulate or linear-oblong, curved, slightly twisted, notched and gradually narrowing towards the apex, basally clasping leaves that are pierced below at intervals by roots and blooms on a simple or branched, axillary, to 4' [120 cm] long, ascending to drooping inflorescence carrying many widely spaced flowers with a strong musky to sweet scent occuring in humid environments almost continuously but most in the fall.
Synonyms Aerides arachnites Sw. 1800; Aerides flosaeris (L.) Sw. 1800; Arachnis flosaeris (L.) Schltr. 1911; Arachnis flosaeris var. gracilis Holttum 1935; Aerides matutinum Willd. 1805; Arachnis moschifera Blume 1826; Arachnanthe flos-aeris Rchb.f 1905; Arachnanthe moschifera Blume 1848; Epidendrum aerosanthum St.-Lag. 1880 ; *Epidendrum flos-aeris L. 1753; Limodorum flos-aeris Sw. 1799; Renanthera arachnites Lindley 1833; Renanthera flos-aeris Rchb.f 1858; Renanthera moschifera [Bl.] Hassk. 1848;
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1857 as Renanthera flos aeris; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1854 as Renanthera flos-aeris; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905 as Arachnanthe flos aeris; Die Orchideen Von Java Figuren Atlas J.J.Smith 1908 drawing fide; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; The Orchids of Malaya Holtum 1957; Orchid Digest Vol 42 No 5 1978 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 46 No 5 1982 photo fide; Orchidiana Philipiniana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984; The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Opera Botanica #95 Seidenfaden 1988 drawing/photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 22 1329 - 1392 Brieger 1989; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 22 1329 - 1392 Brieger 1989 a flos-aeris var gracilisOrchids of Java Comber 1990 photo ok; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Seidenfaden & Wood 1992 drawing fide; The Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb, Laurent 1992 photo fide; The Illustrated encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1992; The Plants of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Orchids Wood Beaman & Beaman 1993; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo, Wood & Cribb 1994 photo fide; Orchids of Borneo Chan, Shim, Lamb & Wood Vol 1 1994 drawing/photo fide; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Vanda's Their Botany and Culture Motes 1997; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2001 photo fide; Orchids of Sarawak Beeman & Wood 2001 photo fide; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2002 photo fide; A to Z of SE Asian Orchids O'Byrne 2001 photo fide; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2005 photo fide; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #1 2011 photo fide; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 drawing/photo fide; Wild Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia Ong, O'Byrne, Yong & Saw 2011 photo fide; Philippine Native Orchid Species Cootes 2011 photo fide; Genera Orchidacearum Vol 6 Epidendrodeaea Pt 3 Pridgeon, Cribb, Chase and Rasmussen 2014; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #2 2017 drawing fide;
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