!Mystacidium capense (L. f.) Druce 1917 Photo courtesy of Tony Watkinson and the Species Orchid Society of Western Australia.

Inflorescence Photo by © Cameron McMaster

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Common Name Cape Of Good Hope Mystacidium

Flower Size 1/2" to 1 1/4" [1.5 to 3 cm]

A miniature sized, clump forming, shade and humidity loving, hot to warm growing epiphyte that is best grown mounted, comes from South Africa from sealevel to 700 meters in the dry savannahs and in evergreen forests in deep shade and has a monopodial growth habit with a short stem covered by sheathing leaf bases each carrying spreading, obovate to oblanceolate, unequally roundly or obtusely bilobed apically leaves that are articulated to the basal leaf sheath bases and all held in one plane that blooms on an axillary, pendant, 2 to 4" [5 to 10 cm] long, few to several [6 to 12] flowered, racemose inflorescence with ovate to obovate, acute or apiculate floral bracts and carrying nocturnally jasmine scented flowers and occuring in the late spring and summer. Mount this species on cork and hang in semi-shade, give cold to warm temperatures, regular water with a definite drying out and a dry winter rest.

Synonyms Aeranthes filicornis (Lindl.) Rchb. f. 1864; Angraecum capense Lindl. 1830-40; *Epidendrum capense L. f. 1782; Epidorchis longicornis (Sw.) Kuntze 1891; Limodorum longicornu Sw. 1799; Mystacidium filicorne Lindley 1836; Mystacidium longicornu T. Durand & Schinz 1895

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982 photo ; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 2 2006 photo; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008;

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