We are celebrating our first day of term and it is wonderful to have students back in the greenhouse and the lab. This lovely species produces amongst the most 2 dimensional flowers of any of our orchids.

Aerangis arachnopus comes from Central Africa where it grows in evergreen forest from 400-1000m. This indicates that the species enjoys warm shaded conditions and so we grow it in Warm Asia with additional shade in the summer. When we made the mistake of hanging it in a bright spot with full sun the result was burns on the newer leaves.

In common with most Aerangis species this plant is pollinated by moths and has a long spur containing nectar showing a specialist relationship with long tongued Hawk Moths. The spur curves at the back of the flower with access just below the column.