Finding
SITF confirms that this plant is Aerangis calantha (July 2024). This plant is an excellent match for the description in LaCroix's Aerangis monograph, "The Genus Aerangis" and the description of Aerangis calantha in the "African Orchids in the Wild" also by LaCroix. Flowers are a close match to the photos in the orchidroots.com and the IOSPE.
Leaf Length: 4.5
Leaf Width: 0.5
Leaf Margin: smooth
Inflorescence Overall Length: 5.1
Ovary Length: 1.1
Ovary Width: 0.1
Ovary Shape: terete
Ovary Color: brownish green
Ovary Texture: ribbed longitudinally
Flower Natural Spread Length: 3.7
Flower Natural Spread Width: 1.6
Dorsal Sepal Length: 0.7
Dorsal Sepal Width: 0.3
Lateral Sepals Length: 0.7
Lateral Sepals Width: 0.3
Petals Length: 0.7
Petals Width: 0.2
Judging Center: Mid-America
Award Number: 20234328
Award Date: April 28, 2023
Awarded As: CBR
Fifteen white stellate, erect flowers on five inflorescences up to 5.1cm, arising below the leaves or in the leaf-axils; plant 10cm round clump, very short, woody stem carrying leaves 2–6, alternate, distichous, closely overlapping on the stem, linear, falcate, somewhat attenuated towards the base, unequally bilobed at the apex, the lobes acute, 0–0.3cm long, the shorter one sometimes absent, margins entire, thin or somewhat fleshy, dark green with a few black dots, largest leaf 0.5cm wide x 4.5cm long, root tip white; sepals slightly porrect, oblong-lanceolate, subacute; petals slightly reflexed, linear-oblong, subacute; lip oblong-lanceolate, apiculate; spur J-shaped, hooked forward, 0.1cm wide x 3.0cm long, white, tip light chartreuse; column 0.2cm wide x 0.3cm long, white, anther cap pale yellow; ovary 0.1cm wide x 1.1cm long, terete, ridged longitudinally, brownish green; substance medium; texture crystalline; awarded for rarity in cultivation; species from West Africa; ID by SITF____________.
