Aerangis mooreana

[Lars.Kurth]

This wonderful Aerangis started flowering a few days ago

[Tom-19951]

Really pretty, Lars.

It is Aerangis mystacidii though.

[Janet]

Very nice!

[Lars.Kurth]

It is Aerangis mystacidii though.

Tom, how do I tell the difference? I bought the plant labelled as clavergiera, which turned out to be wrong. When it flowered last year I was told on the forum it was mooreana. The description seems to fit the one in Angraecoid orchids, but then neither the photos for mystacidii nor mooreana are very clear. On the other hand the plant looks like: http://www.orchidspecies.com/aeramystacidiae.htm

Which would mean that I have two mystacidii's from different nurseries. On the other hand > 50% of all Aerangis I bought from nurseries were wrongly labelled

[blrnut]

Wow! very pretty!!

[Tom-19951]

Lars, How big is the flower? Based on what I have seen, the lip shape of Aerangis mooreana is longer and narrower. A. mooreana flower is much bigger and it blooms in winter or spring, while mystacidii blooms in the fall. My A. mystacidii looks just like yours(this one).
I could be totally wrong about this, so you should do more research on its ID.

[ang709]

Good photos, lovely blooms!

[walingwaling]

nicely flowered!

[Lars.Kurth]

@Tom,
I have been looking into the difference of mooreana and mystacidii & have got nowhere. The description of the flowers and plants is quite similar (including the size). The material on the web is contradicting, including flowering times. For example Aerangis mystacidii - Orchids Wiki & Aerangis mooreana - Orchids Wiki seem to actually show the same flower (it is all a question of the angle of the photo). If I look at a newly open flowered it looks like File:Aerangis mooreana.jpg - Orchids Wiki, flowers open for a couple of days move their sepals and look like File:Aerangis mystacidii.jpg - Orchids Wiki

Flowering time also is contradicting:
* Some sources say that mystacidii flowers in autumn and mooreana in spring
* Others say they flower at the same time
* Joyce Stewart's book Angraecoid orchids says that mystacidii flowers March to May and mooreana July to October

I compared the mystacidii seedling I have with the mooreana plant. They look very similar: the plant labelled mooreana has leaves whose lobes have a pointy apex, the ones on the mystacidii seedling are more rounded. But on both plants the lobes are quite irregular ...

So I am toptally at a loss. Seems these two species are often confused and it is hard to find out what information is reliable ... I will just have to wait and see whether the mystacidii seedling I also have turns out the same (-:

So unless an expert steps in, maybe I will never find out

[Tom-19951]

Lars, your orchids-wiki links show different flowering time(summer/fall vs winter/spring) and flower size(8cm vs 2.3cm).
A lot off Aerangis will have flat flowers when they just open up, then the petals pull back a little...the online photos are confusing...
I get back to you if I find more reliable information, I would like you and others to do the same. Also, I would love to see the original describtions of these two species if someone can find it(maybe at kew?)