Aerangis hologlottis - Sri Lanka typus

I am embarrassed ... my pictures will never be so good as yours

anyhow tissue-culture started with this species - got it directly from Sri Lanka about 8 years ago, self-x wasn´t possible, even to cross it with the Kenya-typus failed. In the meantime I am convinced it is about an own species, at least genetically that it is not possible to cross both types.
We worked out a method to do a tissue-culture ... the plant shown below is already the 2nd generation of the motherplant.
The toughest problem has been to release the motherplant from any germs and to succeed in re-flasking it under an a-septic environment again. It took a constant treatment with H202 and Hypochlorite, sometimes daily. After about half a year it stayed clean. Then the tissue-propagation was done under the support of a bacterium Methylobacterium extorquens which provokes some areas of meristem-tissue to an activation.
The motherplant is living in Tyrol now carrying 7 - 10 spikes annually. Yes, we deflasekd it finally after we had it in the in-vitro-program for about 7 years, it´s retired now. Ntl as we brought this plant to Tyrol last December we forgot it in the car and it had to stand minus 7 C° outside. Brave plant, it did.

Hologlottis flowers already after 2 years.
We are actually trying to get to 2-3 clones from Sri Lanka but what seems a hard job to do.

 

MiKa - may I send you 2-3 plants of hologlottis, we always shared ... . I am pretty sure this species would suit well into your collection.

 

yes, Calvin, it´s a meristem, although we didn´t take the root-tips but the base of the plant about 2-4 mm below the roots coming out. Roots can work either but have to be long enough, about 2-3 cm. Meristem from the root-tips didn´t work here and we worked under pressure, had still one plant.
Do you cultivate this species in America, do you have any access to it, any source? We are planning a sending of plants to America but what will be made from Germany and definetely not from Austria. We can send you some seedlings if you promise never abusing them for any weird hybrid-aims and to share among some others

 

You can´t self it, at least it is very unlikely - alas. This is a clone of Sri Lanka, not the usual one from Kenya but which isn´t to get either. Seeds carry embryos but the development of chlorophyll is blocked. We have tried for 7 years now and still pollinate some plants every year. 2010 and 2011 we have tried a cross with the Kenya-type which failed as well.
We got the plant years ago - as mentioned - in order to propagate it and re-establishing the seedlings/young-plants in Sri-Lankas again. This plant suffered hard from the civil-war when natural habitats have been destroyed. In 2005 we got the information that the natural pollinator (a night-acitve moth) has been wiped out, too. So we kept the seedlings waiting on the ok from Sri Lanka when this very moth has been discovered again. In 2008 the contact to our contact man in Sri Lanka broke off. We are now in contact with someone else upon Sri Lanka but time still hasn´t come resending the plants. In the meantime we have distributed them well among Europe, Australia, New Zealand. A trial shipping some to America 2 years ago failed due to the customs and their stubborness.

 

sure Gilles, why not - I like French people. But are you sure you can grow Angraecoids successfully, I thought your domain are pink Phals .
Will wrap a plant for you next week, promised

 

yes, we took part at the Show in Bologna 2010 and 2011 - this year I won´t be able to get to Bologna. Too many projects ahead and I need a little rest after attending 12 Shows as exhibitioner last year. I am happy to meet someone familiar here
Well @goods: meristem is always a one-way and the worse and should also be the last trial in order to propagate a plant. But the worst thing is doing "nothing" - because keeping a single plant only carries the risk to lose it and you know yourself how fast it goes. Cloning and sharing/distributing is the only way to give the clone more than only one chance to survive. Each cultivation differs from the culture of the other, so the risk normally will be zero that we are going to lose all plants simultanuously. That´s why step 2 is as important as distribution: knowing to whom the plants were sent. That´s why we usually don´t offer endangered species at any Shows, we behave very restricted in these matters. Because in the worst case we have to ask to re-send the plant in order to start with the tissue culture once more. Aerangis hologlottis is now anyhow safe, until now we got 200 plants and the program still has not ended. The strongest plants aren´t given away but always re-included into the meristem-program. They stay here and so I think we can maintain Aerangis hologlottis is safe seen from the ex-situ point of view.
But what´s about the other Angraecoids or globally other orchid-species?
Actually we keep about 1.200 different orchid-species in propagation. To 99% it´s the generative propagation we are working on and this is for sure the best method as different clones are resulting (which can be crossed in almost all cases) and not one-eggy twins. But consider our lab is small and never the less we care for the survival of 3% of all orchid-species existing. So what it takes was 30 further labs anywhere spread among the globe caring for the rest.
It only works over collaboration, honesty and faith.
Kew Gardens are conserving the seeds by freezing waiting on the arrival of any aliens who might be happy to find them correctly described and stored in bunkers, we put them onto a medium hoping on life coming up, that´s the difference.

 

@Egoista .. will you be in Bologna in May? Can you maybe fetch a plant for us from Nardotto?

 

DPfarr ... there´s the wrong assumption that seeds of Aerangis hologlottis and Angraecum zeyliacum have been spread by Passat-winds. Recently I spoke with a botanist who regularly travels to Sri Lanka and compared the flora and fauna between East-Africa and Sri Lanka. There are a lot of similarities. He is of the opinion (and that is mine as well) that when Sri Lanka broke off from Africa and drifted to Asia the flora & fauna developed in almost the same way as it did at Africa´s Eastcoast. There are Passatwinds existing but never (!) from Kenya, Tanzania towards the East rather the opposite. So very unlikely the seeds have been blown and carried 6.000 miles across the Indian Ocean just to fall down upon Sri Lanka. Why not settling down somewhere else then like in India? Sri Lanka´s flora is African flora but too far and too long separated in order to keep up the opinion/dogma that hologlottis is existing both in Africa and Sri Lanka. They cannot be crossed, they look similar, very similar but at least there are slight differences in genus. Ntl who cares ... except some idiots as we are

 

thanks Gilles