CHRISTMAS STAR ORCHID - Angraecum sesquipedale

Christmas Star Orchid  - Angraecum sesquipedale

The Christmas Star Orchid  - Angraecum sesquipedale, is an epiphytic orchid species native only to Madagascar, an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. It was first discovered in 1798 by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1758 – 1831), although it was not formally described by him until 1822.

Angraecum sesquipedale and pollinator moth

It is of particular interest due to its association with the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882). In 1862, Darwin received a container of orchid specimens by Joseph Hooker, the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. In the January of that year, Darwin wrote a letter back to Joseph Hooker. It stated:

 ‘...I have just received ..... the astounding Angraecum sesquipedale with a nectary a foot long. Good Heavens what insect can suck it?...’

Later that year, Darwin predicted that the long flower spur must have co-evolved with a pollinator moth with an equally long proboscis, a theory which drew particular ridicule from this critics. However, it was not until after his death in 1903, and 41 years after writing his original letter to Hooker, that the pollinator (the Malagasy subspecies of the African hawk moth) was discovered by Lionel Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan and Darwin's theory was finally vindicated. The hawk moth was named Xanthopan morganii praedicta in honour of Darwin’s original prediction. Since then it has also gained the common name of Darwin's orchid.

Angraecum sesquipedale botanical illustration

Growing up to a metre high, the Christmas Star Orchid is noted for its gorgeous, creamy-white blooms which emerge from between the upper leaves on pale greenish stems. The star-like flowers are large, fleshy with pointed sepals and petals between 7–9 cm long. Between 2-6 blooms are produced per flowering stem. However it is the 30–35 cm long green spur which attracts the most interest.

In their native habitat the flowers will emerge from June to September, however when cultivated in Europe however, the flowers appear between December and January. They produce an intense spicy scent, but as this species is moth pollinated the fragrance is only present at night.

The leathery leaves are dark green with a grayish bloom and a bilobed tip. They measure approximately 22–30 cm long and 3 cm wide. Like the majority of epiphytic orchid species the roots are thick and silver-grey in colour.

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