Arachnis flos-aeris (L.) Rchb. f. 1886

Common Name The Air Flower Arachnis

Flower Size 4" [10 cm]

Found on the Malaysian pennisula as well as Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines in mangroves and along rivers at elevations of sea level to 1000 meters as a as a large to giant sized, warm growing monopodial, climbing epiphyte or scrambling lithophyte often over 15' tall, with terete, elongate, scandent stems carrying ligulate or linear-oblong, curved, slightly twisted, notched and gradually narrowing towards the apex, basally clasping leaves that are pierced below at intervals by roots and blooms on a simple or branched, axillary, to 4' [120 cm] long, ascending to drooping inflorescence with many widely spaced flowers with a strong musky to sweet scent occuring in humid environments almost continuously but most in the fall.

Synonyms Aerides arachnites Sw. 1799; Aerides flosaeris (L.) Sw. 1799; Arachnis flosaeris (L.) Schltr. 1911; Arachnis flosaeris var. gracilis Holttum 1935; Aerides matutinum Willd. 1805; Arachnis moschifera Blume 1826; Arachnanthe flos-aeris Rchb.f 1905; Arachnanthe moschifera Blume 1848; Epidendrum aerosanthum St.-Lag. 1880 ; *Epidendrum flos-aeris L. 1753; Limodorum flos-aeris Sw. 1799; Renanthera arachnites Lindley 1833; Renanthera flos-aeris Rchb.f 1858; Renanthera moschifera [Bl.] Hassk. 1848;

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1857 as Renanthera flos aeris; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1854 as Renanthera flos-aeris; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905 as Arachnanthe flos aeris; The Orchids of Malaya Holtum 1953; Orchid Digest Vol 42 No 5 1978 photo; Orchid Digest Vol 46 No 5 1982 photo; Orchidiana Philipiniana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984; The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1987; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2002; A to Z of SE Asian Orchids O'Byrne 2001; Manual of Orchids Stewart 2001; Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb and Laurent 1992; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005; The Illustrated encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1992; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Seidenfaden & Wood 1992; Vanda's Their Botany and Culture Motes 1997; Orchids of Java Comber 1990; Orchids of Borneo Chan, Shim, Lamb & Wood 1994; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2002