In situ Kenya

This time of the year a good number of species are flowering in Kenya and I recently came across:

Polystachya adansoniae

Angraecopsis amaniensis. This specie can be differentiated by the sharp spur from A. breviloba which is similar in appearance when not in flower, but has a shorter and blunt spur. In the location where I came across them, there were many, and although not famous as a lithophyte, there were a few, one shown here:

When the habitat is right for a species, they can be all over the place.

Another amaniensis, this time of the genus Rangaeris, with most likely a Red-chested Sunbird.

 

The following research makes interesting reading about Rangaeris amaniensis pollination, amongst others: Fig. 5. (a) Rangaeris amaniensis , (b) Aerangis thomsonii , and (c) A..... In short, it doesn't auto self pollinate, though seems for a limited extent self compatible. I guess the more flowers on one plant / clump, the higher the pollination rate also because of the scent trail. Rangearis amaniensis doesn't grow fast, this plant is at least 20 yrs old, maybe the moths even know by now where it is and when it flowers?

 

In Kenya epiphytes generally flower during the long rains while many terrrestrials then just wake up from their dormancy, hence they flower later in the year, like this Disperis egregia
Colors in reality a bit darker. This one was actually growing on the northern hemisphere, most records are from the southern.

 

Below a massive clump of Cyrtorchis arcuata, I have never seen any other even close to this size. It grows on a dead tree on the bank of a small river with shade from Eucalyptus trees, though this species is very flexible with climatic conditions anyway. Some Eucalyptus species can be a fair growing media for Orchids, mostly depending on the type of bark, the ones with smooth and peeling bark, as in this location, are useless.