Epiphytic monopodial herbs, with short or elongate leafy stems, without pseudobulbs
Leaves distichous, ligulate to oblanceolate, flat, usually unequally bilobed at apex
Inflorescences lateral, short or long racemes, rarely branched, mainly pendulous; flowers usually white
Sepals and petals ± lanceolate-oblong, spreading, free
Lip elliptic to lanceolate-oblong, with long spur
Gynostemium short and broad; anther operculate, anther cap sometimes beaked; pollinia 2, attached by single stipe to single enlarged viscidium; rostellum entire, elongated
Capsule cylindrical or ellipsoid, often much enlarged
x = 25 (aneuploids, high polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Aerangis Rchb.f.
Reichenbach: 190 (1865)
Rolfe: 68 (1912) under Angraecum
Schelpe: 44 (1966)
Harrison: 47 (1972)
Stewart: 239 (1979)
Stewart et al.: 262 (1982)
Linder & Kurzweil: 427 (1999)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 50, Africa and Mascarene Islands
Southern Africa: Species 3 (possibly 5), Mpumalanga, Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape
References:
HARRISON, E.R. 1972. Epiphytic orchids of southern Africa. Natal Branch of the Wildlife Society of Southern Africa
LINDER, H.P. & KURZWEIL, H. 1999. Orchids of southern Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam
REICHENBACH, H.G. 1865. Dr. Welwitsch's Orchideen aus Angola. Flora 48
ROLFE, R.A. 1912. Order CXXXI. Orchideae. Flora capensis 5,3
SCHELPE, E.A. 1966. An introduction to the South African Orchids. Purnell & Sons, Cape Town, Johannesburg
STEWART, J. 1979. A revision of the African species of Aerangis (Orchidaceae). Kew Bulletin 34
Copyright of the content hosted by this website remains with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), unless stated otherwise. Material from this site may be used in other media, provided that SANBI is acknowledged by the name South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) or refer to the 'How to cite this resource' paragraph on the Home page. Liability disclaimer: Visitors use this site at their own risk and SANBI is not liable for any of the consequences resulting therefrom.
Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
