Aeranthes Hsinying Ramosa (Grandiose x ramosa)
This is 3/4
Aeranthes ramosa, and 1/4
Aeranthes grandiflora. Very quickly after I started looking more into Angraecoid orchids, I realized how appealing these flowers were to me, and decided to pick up this wonderful plant from Kawamoto orchids. It was a nice sized and obviously mature sized plant, and which had no signs of previous bloom spikes, so I think this may be its first! The roots were dried out quite a bit when I got it, and some were dead, but the foliage was in excellent shape and very healthy. I had read that Angraecums and their relatives do not handle repotting and root disturbances very well, so I had a little apprehension.
This plant, however, handled being repotted like a champ. I potted it in a wooden basket with sphag, charcoal, and spongerock as the mix. I keep it very moist, though it does dry out just a bit between waterings. It seemed like only a matter of a month before the roots started poking out the sides and meandered around the wooden slats. The very best thing about this plant's culture is that it appears to thrive in shadier conditions. I hang it on the side of the stand where there is no direct overhead light, and the light it gets is partially obscured by the foliage of the plants that are growing on the shelf.
I was really surprised and also very happy that soon after repotting, it also decided it was time to bloom. The wiry spike is long, very thin, and very pliable, and it grew rapidly. The only thing is, it had to grow a lot before it finally began developing branches, and then buds. Basically it grew for months on end until it reached several feet (1m) or more in length, at which point I just looped it up into curls so that when it finally bloomed, I would have had to lay on the floor to be eye level with the blooms.
Despite taking a very long time for the spike to develop, the buds grow and open very quickly. I'm used to Paphs and Phrags, some of which take a long time to develop the buds...this Aeranthes is a cheetah in comparison.
I'm hoping it turns out to be fragrant. Online reports are mixed so this may be one where individual clones are fragrant, others are not. If it is fragrant, it's described as being similar to butterscotch. I'm interested to see how accurate that is. As of right now, it is not fragrant and I've checked several times starting at around sundown. If it is fragrant, I assume like most other Angs, it will be night fragrant.
http://i.imgur.com/kDLGehAl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SU7lYpAl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IwKoZnel.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uj62nJfl.jpg
My camera and photographic skills are lacking, and don't really show the beautiful opaque and translucent aspects of the flower. For instance, unless I'm deceiving myself, I think I can see some liquid in the nectary.
