Cyrtorchis chailluana [Hkr. f] Schlechter 1914 SECTION Cyrtorchis

Flower Closeup

Photo by Guy Ramette Vovan and his Gabon Orchids Website

FragranceFull sun CoolWinter

Common Name Chaillu's Cyrtochis {French orchid Collector in Madagascar 1900's]

Flower Size 3" [7.5 cm] spur 6" [15 cm]

Found in central to west Africa as a medium to large sized, cool growing epiphyte in dense tropical forests at elevations of 1150 to 1250 meters where it benefits from a cooler drier winter and has elongated stems carrying ligulate to oblanceolate leaves and blooms on a to 10" [25 cm] long, several flowered [7 to 10], racemose, axillary inflorescence giving rise to waxy, fragrant, white turning apricot flowers occuring in the winter.

Often said to be the same as C letouzeyi but differs most distinctly in having an axillary inflorescence instead of from the stem and has the longest spur 6.4" [16 cm] long of any species within the genus.

"Differs from C arcuata lies in the relative lengths of the two parts of the viscidium. In the present species the indurated upper portion, which is over .12" [3 mm] long, is usually distinctly longer than the hyaline portion, whereas in most forms of C arcuata the reverse is the case, the indurated part also being less than .1" [2.5 mm] in length. Summerhayes 1960

Synonyms Angorchis chailluana [Hkr. f] Kuntze 1891; Angraecum arcuatum Lindley 1862; Angraecum chailluanum Hook.f. 1866; Angraecum crenatum Rchb.f. ex B.S.Williams 1885; Cyrtorchis crenata (Rchb.f. ex B.S.Williams) Garay 1972; Cyrtorchis helicocalcar Bellone 2001; Cyrtorchis letouzeyi Szlach. & Olszewski 2001; Listrostachys chailluana [Hkr f] Reichb.f. 1885

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915;

Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as Listrostachys chailluana drawing good;

Kew Bull. 14: 146 Summerhayes 1960

Kew Bull. 14: 1 Summerhayes 1960 as Angraecum crenatum;

Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965;

AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 11 1968 photo fide;

Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 photo good;

AOS Bulletin Vol 39 No 10 1970 photo;

Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989 drawing fide;

A Culture Manual for Angraecoid Orchid Growers Hillerman 1992 photo fide;

The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 drawing fide;

African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997;

Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006 drawing;

AOS Bulletin Vol 84 #1 2015 photo fide;

Phytotaxa 267 (3) 173 Droissat & Azandi 2016 photo fide;

AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #4 2016 photo fide;

AOS Bulletin Vol 87 #1 2018 photo fide;

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