!Rangaeris muscicola (Rchb.f.) Summerh. 1936

Photo by Bernard Lagrelle and his Orchid Website

Plant and Flowers in situ South Africa

Photo by © Lourens Grobler

Common Name The Moss-Growing Rangaeris

Flower Size 1 1/2" wide

Found in Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia., Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe at elevations of 600 to 2200 meters as a small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte or occasional lithophyte with a short, stout stem with 5 to 11, linear, folded, stiff, slightly curved, dark green leaves held in a fan and blooms in the fall and winter on a 4 to 12" long, to 20 flowered, axillary, racemose inflorescence that arises from the lower leaf axils and has white, fragrant flowers that turn a light orange with age. This species likes to have a drier winter and copious water in the spring and summer.

Synonyms Aerangis engleriana (Kraenzl.) Schltr. 1915; Aerangis falcifolia Schltr. 1915; Aerangis floribunda (Rolfe) Summerh. 1932; Aerangis mixta Schltr. 1918; Aerangis muscicola (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1915; Aerangis solheidii (De Wild.) Schltr. 1918; *Aeranthes muscicola Rchb.f. 1865; Angraecum batesii (Rolfe) Schltr. 1900; Angraecum englerianum Kraenzl. 1886; Angraecum solheidii De Wild. 1916; Epidorkis muscicola (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891; Listrostachys engleriana (Kraenzl.) Kraenzl. 1894; Listrostachys floribunda Rolfe 1918; Listrostachys muscicola (Rchb.f.) Rolfe 1897; Listrostachys solheidii De Wild. 1916; Mystacidium batesii Rolfe 1897; Mystacidium muscicolum (Rchb.f.) T.Durand & Schinz 1894;

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968; The Epiphytic Orchids of Malawi Morris 1970 drawing fide; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing fide; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982 photo fide; Rudolph Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 16/17/18 945-1128 Brieger 1985; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 drawing/photo fide; Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family Dressler 1993 photo good; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 No 10 1994 photo fide; The Orchids of Kenya Stewart & Campbell 1996 photo fide; African Orchid In the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 photo fide; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Orchidaceae Part 2 Pope 1998 drawing fide; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999 photo fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 drawing/photo fide; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006 PHOTO FIDE; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide;

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