Ansellia habitat temperatures
 

Those of you living in Africa, or who have been there - How hot does it get in the hottest Ansellia africana habitats? Thanks.

e. s. -

If you don't get the reply you need, consider the following other sources:
Orchid Culture -- Charles and Margaret Baker Subscription service, but not expensive. Good information on climate (temperature, rainfall, seasonality) in the habitat for species.

Also IOSPE PHOTOS has at least rough night temperature information.

By reading the links, it seems that they live in a wide range of habitats: countries in the Guinea golf which are hot and humid and South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, etc, which are more or less hot and dry.

But what caught my attention was this info:

The Zulu in South Africa herbalists use the pseudobulb to make a tea that is used as an emetic.

Also Zulu lore has it that a spurned lover can wear pseudobulbs of this species to prevent the ex-lover from having children.

In northern Zimbabwe and Zambia this species leaves and stems are used to make a broth that is a supposed cure for madness.

The Pedi tribe of Zimbabwe use this species to make an infusion that curtails coughing in children.

Love it, specially the 2nd.:rofl:

#2 is not why I bought it.

---------- Post added at 09:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 AM ----------

I'm looking for the highest location temperatures they ever experience. The Baker sheets are great, but they were limited to available data, most of which were recorded in or near cities. Cities weren't built in really hot places until the arrival of air conditioning unless they really needed to be there. Somebody familiar with the actual habitat will have a better idea of what the plants actually experience. IOSPE is useful as a general guide to growers but doesn't address temperature extremes in either direction, so its temperature inforation is of limited usefulness to growers on the edge.

As an example, some of the blue transvaal Encephalartos species are generally thought to experience temperatures into the low 100s F in habitat. That means I should need to plant them in the shade. But a person I know who visited one species, far from any settlement, told me adult plants grew in full sun in an area where shade temperatures were 130 degrees F / almost 50C. That temperature information is useful to me in the desert and is not otherwise available.

Maybe you could check the climate extremes for each country mentioned. This info is available in the web, although it may take some work/time.

The extremes near the airports and cities are reported. There aren't many weather stations in the bush. I suspect the plant grows in really hot places but only somebody familiar with habitat and the plant itself could answer that.

Don't forget you'll need wind and humidity information if you're planning to grow orchids very hot. Many of the warm or hot growers are fine as long as there is ample humidity or wind to cool the leaves. I burned a bunch of my plants outside this year when our hot summer weather went suddenly from hot and humid to hot and dry. Even my Encyclias and rupiculous Laelias were scortched!!

Yes. How much sun or shade were they getting?

Until recently I figured I could grow almost no orchids outside here during the summer, even in full shade. But now I'm wondering. Eulophia petersii is bulletproof even in a half day's sun. It has a huge natural range, and so does Ansellia. I wonder whether they overlap? Growers in Tucson, only slightly cooler than Phoenix, manage lots of Eulophias and Oeceoclades outside under shade cloth during the summer.

We have almost no wind to contend with, except during the monsoon when humidity is around 40%. During our very hottest times of year humidity is under 10% and evaporative cooling is very effective.

Hot summer nights is another issue. Many obligate CAM photosynthesis plants can't handle those. Tillandsias can't take it. Echeverias can't take it. I know at least some orchids are CAM plants.

They were getting full morning sun until about noon with a 50% aluminet shade cloth. I had to move the plants back so they got full shade earlier in the day. Night time temps get down to about 80-85.

We found a few specimens at Letaba Rest Camp in Kruger Park, statistics: average temperature in summer about 31C, and max about 40C.
All of them grew in trees close to rivers beds.
I've had two rootless divisions for over half a year and they only sent out new growths when a massive heat wave hit Pretoria, so I'd guess they do enjoy their hot weather.