!Rangaeris muscicola (Rchb.f.) Summerh. 1936 Photo Courtesy of Bernard Lagrelle and his Orchid Website

Plant and Flowers in situ South Africa Photo courtesy of © 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; Epidorchis 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 ; African Orchid In the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 2 Pope 1998; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006