This lovely little orchid is blooming right now, and I must admit that that it is a pretty powerful sight. Aerangis mooreana is a small warm grower from Madagascar and the Comoros Islands where it grows at elevations of sea level up to 600 meters. I grow mine in the warm vivarium mounted on a clay pipe filled with water, and it seems quite happy with the arrangement. I bought it from Karge at a show in Sweden back in April and this is the first time it is blooming for me.
Each of the 25 delicate flowers come with a long spur indicative of the moth pollinated African species. The flowers seem perfectly snow white until you hold them up to the light, then you see that they are actually lightly peach colored. It is faintly fragrant at night, although I cannot quite place the scent. Perhaps a little bit of Jasmine or Lilly of the Valley? It is really hard to say, but at least it smells nice. I have a bulbophyllum orchid in bud right now with a fragrance from quite the opposite side of the scent spectrum… but more on that one later.
