Angraecum sesquipedale //, also called Darwin's orchid,
Christmas orchid, Star of Bethlehem orchid, and King of the
Angraecums, is an epiphytic orchid in the genus Angraecum
endemic to Madagascar. The orchid was first discovered by the
French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798, but
was not described until 1822. It is noteworthy for its long spur
and its association with the naturalist Charles Darwin, who
surmised that the flower was pollinated by a then undiscovered
moth with a proboscis whose length was then unprecedented. His
prediction had gone unverified until 21 years after his death,
when the moth was discovered and his conjecture vindicated. The
story of its postulated pollinator has come to be seen as one of
the celebrated predictions of the theory of evolution. Angraecum
sesquipedale is a monocot with monopodial growth and can grow to
a height of 1 m (3.3 ft). Its growth habit is rather similar to
species in the genus Aerides. The leaves are dark green with a
bit of a grayish tone a