L'Étoile de Madagascar - Angraecum sesquipedale

L'Étoile de Madagascar - Angraecum sesquipedale

I painted the famous Angraecum sesquipedale orchid and its nocturnal pollinator hawk moth Xanthopan morganii predicta on an inquiry received from the Smithsonian National Institute of Natural History Washington, D.C., USA.

It will be published soon in a textbook on art and science for students of the Myongji University, South Korea.

The plant and the pollinator hawk moth illustration as well as the size relationships are based on exact measurements.

English vernacular names are “Comet Orchid”, “Christmas Star” or “The Star of Bethlehem Orchid”.

Interested plant lovers might wish to read more about how the educated guess of Charles Darwin came true eleven years later and recorded on the golden pages of orchidology and lepidopterology almost fifty-five years later.