Ansellia africana

[smweaver]

Easy to grow and bloom species from a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa. The flowers, in my opinion, do not have a very nice scent (unless you like the smell of some sort of industrial strength solvent). They are, however, produced in abundance and very colorful.

Steve

[DirtyCoconuts]

very nice looking plant!

never heard of it but i like it

[Dollythehun]

Holy cow, Steve! That's amazing! How big is it?

[Roberta]

Another plus, some of them will bloom more than once a year.

[Keysguy]

That is one very nicely grown plant!
It's interesting because I believe these are actually in the Cymbidium family, correct? But the plant itself looks more like a Dendrobium with those canes.
Very nice.....now I really wish my hadn't died.

[Dollythehun]

From my reading, these get huge?

[Roberta]

They can get pretty big, but grow rather slowly (at least under my conditions) They mostly get tall - footprint doesn't increase very fast.

They really are in the Cymbidium family, though they look - and have a growth pattern- more reminiscent of a Dendrobium. They grow easily for me outdoors - tolerant of both heat and cold. How much of either they actually require to bloom, I don't know.

[Afid]

Very nice! I have been thinking about getting one of these, and not just because I share a name with it

[smweaver]

Thank you, everyone, for your comments.

I do agree with Roberta regarding the mainly vertical nature of the "size issue" with this species. Growths are so close together that I can't even see a rhizome. The largest growths on this particular plant are close to three feet tall, measured from the base of the pseudobulb to the top of the tallest leaf; diameter at the widest point of the pseudobulb is maybe 1.5 inches. I didn't realize (per Robert's observation) that there were some plants that flower more than once yearly. And I've also read elsewhere that some of them can flower from much lower down on the pseudobulb than the standard spiking area at the terminal point of the psuedobulb (the only area that I've ever experienced a spike being generated from on any of my plants). Overall, it's a fun species to grow.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Steve

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by smweaver

And I've also read elsewhere that some of them can flower from much lower down on the pseudobulb than the standard spiking area at the terminal point of the pseudobulb

I have seen this occasionally. For the mulitple blooming, I have a cultivar that someone named "Sometime twotime" ... actually, I have had 3 blooms in a year occasionally from that one.