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DescriptionSlender, pendent epiphytic herb; stem c. 30 cm long, flattened, almost winged.Roots 1-1.5 mm in diameter, arising all along the stem.Leaves distichous, 6-12 cm × 2-4 mm, linear, falcate, acutely and unequally 2-lobed at the apex.Inflorescences arising along stem opposite leaf axils, 1-flowered but often with a second bud which aborts.Peduncle 5-20 mm long; pedicel and ovary 7 mm long with a sharp bend c. 5 mm from the base.Flowers pale yellow or yellow-green, less than 10 mm in diameter.Sepals 6-9 × 1.5-2 mm, linear-lanceolate, acute.Petals similar but slightly shorter and narrower.Lip 5-6 × 2-3 mm, very concave, acute, with a central raised callus at the base; spur 6-8 mm long, slightly swollen in apical half.Column less than 1 mm long.NotesSpecimens from Zomba Mt., the type locality, look very distinctive with long, very narrow leaves and small flowers, but those from the northern region have slightly wider leaves and can be difficult to distinguish from A. stolzii.A. cultriforme, another closely related species, can usually be easily identified by its larger, longer spurred flowers and short, markedly falcate leaves with divergent lobes, but smaller flowered specimens, such as la Croix & Spurrier 779, are almost intermediate between A. cultriforme and A. stolzii.A. stolzii has distinctive woody spurs where inflorescences arise in successive years, but Brenan 5, from Nchunga Falls in Zambia, which otherwise matches A. cultriforme, has this feature.A. cultriforme grows in hotter, more low-lying areas than A. stolzii and A. umbrosum, but it is possible that a detailed study would show that all belong to one variable species, in which case A. stolzii would be the valid name. |
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