Angraecum sesquipedale
 

Angraecum sesquipedale, also called Darwin's orchid, Christmas orchid(more like a New Year Orchid for me), Star of Bethlehem orchid, and King of the Angraecums, it’s an epiphytic orchid in the genus Angraecum that is endemic to Madagascar. The orchid was first discovered by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798, but was not described until 1822. It is noteworthy for its long spur and its association with the naturalist Charles Darwin who surmised that the flower was pollinated by a then undiscovered moth with a proboscis whose length was then unprecedented. His prediction had gone unverified until 21 years after his death when the moth was discovered and his conjecture vindicated. The story of its postulated pollinator has come to be seen as one of the celebrated predictions of the theory of evolution.

I have a young plant so it gave me only one bloom while the others who posted this had several flowers on the spike...
The fragrance comes noticeable around midlight so when I come home from work around 1am; I notice the smell 2 to 3 feet away from it; kinda like almond toffee...in the daytime even if I put my nose close to the flower; theres nothing to smell at all ...

Thank You, Joann !

Beautiful!

That's GORGEOUS, Bud !!!

Thank You, Sonya !

Thank You, Chryss !

Outstanding! Hopefully the flower lasts a long time.

Thank You, Carpe! It is already on its second week of opening its blooms...

Lovely! Congrats on getting it to bloom!

Thank You, Silken !

Beautiful flower and plant!

What is the spur for? Looks?

Thank You, Josh...the spur is for pollination...theres a moth with a 12 to 15 inches proboscis that can pollinate this kind of plant...Darwin was laughed upon when he said there is such a moth...but 25 yrs after his death they found out that there is really such a moth...
its for looks as well...it gives it like a tailike accessory as like the star of bethlehem and its rays....it is also filled with sugar (tho I never attempred to taste it)

Ahh, I didnt know that there was nectar (I assume you can call it there) in the spur. Obviously.

Very cool.

the moth is Xanthopan morgani praedicta if memory serves :)

Thanks for the info, Discus!

Very nice, a special flower!

Thank You, Carol !

Is this the same plant that was giving you problems recently, Bud, or did you acquire another one that was in spike? Glad you got to experience the flowers firsthand--and you LIKE the scent, which is another plus.

Steve

Very nice! Good growing! I haven't been as good with them.

I've had one sitting about doing very little for a year. It's just decided to put out a new root in the last couple of weeks. Pondering a move from CHC to hydroton!

Somewhere recently I read a hypothesis that the long spur on orchids may have come about through an "arms race" between the moths and the orchids - because of spiders! Theory goes that moths originally evolved long(er) proboscis not for sipping long nectaries, but so they didn't have to get too close to flowers and risk being munched by spiders that lie in wait there. The orchids weren't too happy about the moths being so far away and never pollinating them, so the long spurs came about as a way of drawing the little buggers in closer! (I paraphrase of course, but that's the gist).

Great Growing! super plant & flower.

That is quite an info...I always thought moths had stingers like the bees...they only have long sipping curled up straws

Bud, I just got one of these myself. How do you grow yours? I was told to grow them along side my phal's.

Yes this is beside my Phals on my windowsill and I give it the Baker culture...I wait til it is dry and then water it every other day(my apartment is dry and too hot this winter). Weekly weakly fertilizer alternated with seaweed mix&worm tea mix...I seem to have the regimen correct for it to bloom on me(altho I was expecting it on christmas but it opened its blooms late)
In the summer this goes out to the fire escape shaded by the vandas but loves the Manhattan humidity