Rangaeris muscicola

I got this Rangaeris muscicola from Afri Orchids relatively recently (spring 2018).  One of the interesting features of this species is that the individual flowers change the color as they age from white to yellow or orange in older flowers.  You can see that the top right flower is the old flower with yellow color.  Old flowers of mine doesn't have intense color, but I have seen photos of some other plants with a strong contrast, and one may be puzzled that a single plant is producing two different types of flowers. It has a nice sweet fragrance, but it has a little chemical touch, and I wouldn't call it my favorite.  Stewart et al (2006) mentioned that the color of spur was pinkish-orange, but my plant has yellowish-green spurs.

The top flower is starting to change the color.

Rangaeris is a small African genus with about 5 species.  This species has a large geographic distribution including Western (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria,), Eastern (e.g. Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique), Central (Cameroon, Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Southern Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa) (link to regions of Africa).  It looks like pretty much the relatively wet area of Africa.  The elevation range of the species is 600-2200m (la Croix and la Croix 1997) or 1200-2200m (Stewart et al. 2006).  It is epiphytic or lithopytic in humid forests (Stewart et al. 2006).  According to Lourens Grobler (of Afri Orchids), the plants they sell are originated from South Africa (Southern Kwazulu Natal), where the flower forms are nicer than that of Zimbabwe and Malawi plants.

I follow the culture recommendation by la Croix and la Croix (1997).  They suggest that it grows mounted, but it grows better in a pot with a coarse mix and recommend intermediate temperature under moderate light with drier winter.  It seems to be a robust (but slow) grower.  Mine is still compact with the leaf length of about 12cm.  It was growing in a crowded area, so the spurs didn't stretch out straight, and curled randomly.

Literature Cited:

• la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African Orchids in the Wild and in Cultivation.  Timber Press, Portland, Oregon (p. 315 and Plate 92).
• Stewart, J., J. Hermans, B. Campbell.  2006. Angraecoid Orchids - Species from the African Region. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon (p.  352-353).