Bulbophyllum is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is the largest genus in the orchid family and one of the largest genera of flowering plants with more than 2,000 species, exceeded in number only by Astragalus. These orchids are found in diverse habitats throughout most of the warmer parts of the world including Africa, southern Asia, Latin America, the West Indies, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Orchids in this genus have thread-like or fibrous roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks or hang from branches. The stem is divided into a rhizome and a pseudobulb, a feature that distinguished this genus from Dendrobium. There is usually only a single leaf at the top of the pseudobulb and from one to many flowers are arranged along an unbranched flowering stem that arises from the base of the pseudobulb. Several attempts have been made to separate Bulbophyllum into smaller genera, but most have not been accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
Bulbophyllum globuliforme, commonly known as the green bead orchid, miniature moss-orchid or hoop pine orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid with tiny spherical pseudobulbs, scale-like leaves and small cream-coloured flowers with a yellow labellum. It grows on the scaly bark of hoop pine, mostly on the McPherson Range on the New South Wales/Queensland border in eastern Australia. Because of its small size it is often dismissed as moss.
Bulbophyllum fletcherianum, the tongue orchid, Fletcher's bulbophyllum or Spies' bulbophyllum, is a rare orchid native to southern New Guinea. It prefers sunny rock outcrops or mossy tree branches, but besides being lithophytic or epiphytic, it can also be pseudo-terrestrial. The tongue orchid requires high humidity and moist roots.
Bulbophyllum frostii, commonly known as Frost's bulbophyllum or Dutchman's shoes is a species of orchid, In the wild it grows as an epiphyte, inhabiting evergreen seasonal lowland rainforests in Vietnam and more rarely in Thailand, including the Malay peninsula. It was more recently reported growing in the Yunnan province of China during a series of botanical surveys between 2017 and 2020. This plant is usually found at elevations of around 1500m above sea level.
Bulbophyllum bowkettiae, commonly known as the striped snake orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with thin, creeping rhizomes and flattened pseudobulbs each with a single tough, dark green leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with red stripes. It grows on trees and rocks in rainforest in tropical North Queensland, Australia.
Bulbophyllum arfakianum is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum. This rare orchid is endemic to Arfak Mountains at elevations 50~400 meters in rainforests, Papua New Guinea.
Bulbophyllum clandestinum is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum. This orchid grows long hanging rhizomes from which it produces tiny pseudobulbs that each bear one leaf. Flowers are born on each node, they are 3–5 cm in length and are a creamy colour. It is native to Borneo, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Bulbophyllum exiguum, commonly known as the tiny strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has small, roughly spherical pseudobulbs each with a single leaf and up to three small creamy white to yellow flowers emerging from the base of the pseudobulb. This orchid grows in rainforest and dry forest where it often covers the branches of trees or rocks on which it grows.
Bulbophyllum gracillimum, commonly known as the wispy umbrella orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid. It has a creeping rhizome, widely spaced, olive green pseudobulbs, each with a single thick, leathery, fleshy leaf and between six and ten purplish red flowers spreading in a semicircular umbel. The flowers have distinctive long, thread-like tails on the lateral sepals. It has a wide distribution and is found in New Guinea, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Malaysia and part of tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum grandimesense, commonly known as the pale rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid with well-spaced pseudobulbs and brown bracts arranged along the stems. Each pseudobulb has a single, fleshy, dark green leaf and usually only a single white flower with thread-like tips on the sepals. It grows on rainforest trees in a small area of tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum lamingtonense, commonly known as the cream rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with well-spaced pseudobulbs and brown bracts arranged along the stems. Each pseudobulb has a single, fleshy, channelled leaf and a single cream-coloured or white flower with yellow tips. It grows on trees and rocks near cliffs and the edge of rainforest near the eastern border between New South Wales and Queensland.
Bulbophyllum lewisense, commonly known as the Mount Lewis rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid with pseudobulbs and pale brown bracts arranged along the stems. Each pseudobulb has a single, dark green, channelled leaf and a single white flower with pointed tips on the sepals. It grows on the higher branches of rainforest trees, often where it is exposed to breezes on the higher tablelands of tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum longiflorum, commonly known as the pale umbrella orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid. It has a creeping rhizome, widely spaced, dark green pseudobulbs with a single large, fleshy leaf, and flowers spreading in a semicircular umbel, resembling one-half of an umbrella. The flowers are canoe-shaped, greenish cream-coloured to yellowish with purple dots. It has a wide distribution and is found in parts of Africa, on islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and northern Australia.
Bulbophyllum minutissimum, commonly known as the red bead orchid or grain-of-wheat orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with small, flattened, reddish or green pseudobulbs, scale-like leaves and small whitish to reddish flowers with broad dar red stripes. It grows on trees and rocks, mostly in swamps and near streams in eastern Australia.
Bulbophyllum radicans, commonly known as the striped pyjama orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with long, hanging stems with roots near the base and covered with brown, papery bracts which partially hide the pseudobulbs. Each pseudobulb has a single thin leaf. A single small pink, cream-coloured or yellow flower with red or purplish stripes is borne on a thin flowering stem that emerges from the base of the pseudobulb. This orchid grows on trees or rocks in or near rainforest in tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum sphaericum is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum. It is found in Sichuan and Yunnan, providence of China. The Bulbophyllum sphaericum is a warm to cool growing epiphyte with a creeping, branching rhizome with .4" [1 cm] between each globose pseudobulb carrying a single, apical, thickly leathery, elliptic-oblong, abaxially purplish red, adaxially pale green, margin slightly recurved, retuse apically, sessile base leaf that blooms in the summer on an erect, basal from the pseudobulb, much longer than the leaf, 4 to 5 flowered inflorescence holding the flowers in an apical umbel.
Bulbophyllum wadsworthii, commonly known as the yellow rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that forms clumps that hang off the surface on which the plant is growing. The pseudobulbs are small and partly hidden by brown, papery bracts. Each pseudobulb has a single fleshy, dark green leaf and a single star-shaped, cream-coloured or pale green flower with an orange labellum. It mainly grows on trees and rocks in rainforest and is endemic to Queensland.
Bulbophyllum weinthalii, commonly known as the wax orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid that forms dense clumps on hoop pine. It has crowded pseudobulbs each with a single thin, leathery, dark green leaf and a single white, green or cream-coloured flower with red or purplish markings. It occurs from south-eastern Queensland to Dorrigo National Park in New South Wales.
Bulbophyllum windsorense, commonly known as the thread-tipped rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid that has small pseudobulbs partly hidden by brown, papery bracts. Each pseudobulb has a single fleshy, dark green, grooved leaf and one or two cream-coloured or greenish flowers. It mainly grows near the breezy tops of trees, especially Callitris macleayana trees and is endemic to tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum wolfei, commonly known as the fleshy snake orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with thin, creeping rhizomes, and flattened pseudobulbs each with a single thick, fleshy, dark green leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with dark red stripes. It mostly grows on rainforest trees in tropical North Queensland.
