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Ansellia is considered a monotypic genus of orchid, with only one species, Ansellia africana, commonly known as African ansellia or leopard orchid, however, it may in fact be a complex group of species which share common floral structure and growth habit.
The plants are found throughout tropical and subtropical Africa. It was named after John Ansell, an English assistant botanist. who found the first specimens in 1841 on the Bioko Island in West Africa. This genus is sometimes abbreviated as Ansel or Aslla in horticultural trade.
It is referred to along with Grammatophyllum as a "trash basket" orchid due to its habit of creating a makeshift container of aerial roots to catch falling leaf litter for nutrients.The Orchids, Natural History and Classification, Robert L. Dressler.
The roots which penetrate the substrate can become very thick and cord-like to support the weight of the plants, and are typically very different in form than the roots which comprise the trash basket as the aerial roots are non-absorbing. Breakdown and absorption of nutrients by the plant from the trash basket is performed by its fungal symbionts and the active absorbing roots.
These pseudobulbs carry on their top 6 to 7, narrowly ligulate-lanceolate, acute, plicate, leathery leaf. They give rise to a paniculate inflorescence, up to long, with many (10 to 100), delicately scented , across.
The three-lobed lip grows into three yellow projections. The are yellow or greenish yellow, lightly or heavily marked with brown spots. The flowers are short-lived, seldom lasting longer than 10 days, but are produced in abundance provided the plants have received high light levels throughout the year.
The plants are fungal magnets in habitat and in cultivation and tend to culture mychorrhizal fungi they pick up from their environment since this species is a trash basket orchid that in nature creates a network of interlocked airborne roots to collect leaf litter, they have a tendency to rapidly break down their growing medium more so than other species of orchids. Unlike most epiphytic orchids, the roots of this species are not appreciably photosynthetic, are white and pale, and resemble the roots of terrestrial and mycoheterotrophic orchids.
When the plants are not getting enough nitrogen, they will start growing a trash basket with numerous non-absorbing roots growing upwards. These plants do not produce a trash basket if they are receiving sufficient nitrogen regularly.
These plants in habitat usually bloom at the end of dry spells, however, this species has a unique habit of blooming at any time of the year and several times a year if the plants have been grown in high light levels and are subjected to short dry spells of 4–6 weeks every 6 months. There is wide variability of flower shape, color, and markings, and this species is widespread across Africa.
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