''Aerides multiflora'', the multi-flowered aerides, is a species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

included in the subfamily

Epidendroideae Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes ...

, native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

, and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Assam, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the east and west Himalayas, the Andaman Islands, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in the dry tropical regions of the lowlands and the subtropical forests at altitudes from sea level to 1100 meters above sea level.

Description

It is a small to medium-sized plant that prefers a hot climate to cool climates and flourishes in May, June or July. It is an epiphyte with a great aroma that has a stem with many curved ligulate leaves with a bi-lobed apex in a hanging influorescence 30 cm long with up to 50 waxy fragrant flowers about 1.85 to 2.5 cm wide.

Cultivation

The plants are best grown in hanging baskets. They must have full sun and cool to warm temperatures. If they are hanging, their roots must be watered frequently. The plants need to be cultivated in well-drained medias, such as tree fern fiber (for small plants), several pieces of thick fir bark, or tree moss.

Synonymy and confusion

In 1820, William Roxburgh published a description of ''Aerides multiflora''. In 1882,

João Barbosa Rodrigues João Barbosa Rodrigues (June 22, 1842 – March 6, 1909) was considered one of Brazil's greatest botanists, known especially for his work on orchids and palms. For nearly two decades he was director of the Botanic Garden of Rio de Janeiro. Somet ...

published a description of a very different plant under the name of '' Epidendrum geniculatum''. Eight years later, in 1890,

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

published a description of an orchid now recognized as ''Aerides multiflora'' Roxb. and named it ''Epidendrum geniculatum''. Thus, ''Epidendrum geniculatum'' Barb.Rodr. is a very different taxon from ''Epidendrum geniculatum'' Hook.f., a synonym for ''Aerides multiflora'' Roxb., the subject of this article.

Taxonomy

''Aerides multiflorum'' was described by William Roxburgh and published in ''Plants of the Coast of Coromandel'' 3: 68. 1820. ; Etymology ''Aerides'' (abbreviated Aer.): genus name that comes from the Greek words: "aer" = "air" y "eides" = "resembling", alluding to the habit of epiphytes like these plants that apparently feed off nothing, only what the atmosphere can offer them. ''multiflorum'': Latin epithet that means "with many flowers". ; Synonymy * ''Aerides affine'' Wall. 1833 * ''Aerides affinis'' Wall. ex Lindl. (1833) * ''Aerides lobbii'' Lem. (1868) * ''Aerides trigonum'' Klotsch 1855 * ''Aerides veitchi'' R.H.Torr. ex E.Morren 1876 * ''Aerides veitchii'' E. Morren (1876) * ''Aerides godefroyana'' Rchb.f. (1886) * ''Aerides godefroyanum'' Rchb.f 1886 * ''Aerides multiflora'' var. ''godefroyana'' (Rchb.f.) H.J.Veitch (1887) * ''Epidendrum geniculatum'' Hook.f. (1890) * ''Aerides multiflora'' Roxb. (1820) * ''Aerides multiflora'' var. ''lobbii'' H.J. Veitch (1891) * ''Aerides multiflora'' var. ''veitchii'' (E. Morren) H.J. Veitch (1891) * ''Cleisostoma vacherotiana'' Guillaumin (1948) * ''Aerides multiflora'' var. ''dactyloides'' M.Ahmed & al. (1989)

References

multiflora Orchids of Bangladesh Orchids of Thailand Orchids of Vietnam {{Vandeae-stub