Silver strand orchid | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
Tribe: | Dendrobieae |
Genus: | Bulbophyllum |
Species: | B. argyropus |
Binomial name | |
Bulbophyllum argyropus | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Bulbophyllum argyropus, commonly known as the silver strand orchid, [2] is a species of epiphytic or sometimes lithophytic orchid that is endemic to eastern Australia, including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. It has crowded pseudobulbs, tough, dark green leaves and up to four small whitish to yellowish flowers with an orange labellum.
Bulbophyllum argyropus is an epiphytic, rarely an lithophytic herb with crowded, warty and furrowed pseudobulbs 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide. Young pseudobulbs are covered with papery white bracts. There is a single tough, dark green leaf, 20–45 mm (0.8–2 in) long and 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide on each pseudobulb. Up to five whitish or yellowish flowers 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and about 4 mm (0.16 in) wide are arranged on a warty, thread-like flowering stem 15–30 mm (0.59–1.2 in) long. The sepals are about 4 mm (0.2 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) wide, the lateral sepals are 14–18 mm (0.55–0.71 in) long, the petals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and wide. The labellum is orange, about 3 mm (0.12 in) long and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide curved and fleshy. Flowering occurs between August and December. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The silver strand orchid was first formally described in 1833 by Stephan Endlicher who gave it the name Thelychiton argyropus and published the description in Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae. [6] [7] In 1876, Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach changed the name to Bulbophyllum argyropus. [8] The specific epithet (argyropus) is derived from the Ancient Greek words argyros meaning "silver" [9] : 712 and pous meaning "foot". [9] : 343
Bulbophyllum argyropus usually grows on the highest branches of rainforest trees, rarely on rocks. It occurs between the McPherson Range in Queensland and the Dorrigo Plateau in New South Wales as well as on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. It has also been reported from New Caledonia. [2] [3] [4] [10]
Bulbophyllum baileyi, commonly known as the fruit fly orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is native to Queensland and New Guinea. It has coarse, creeping rhizomes, curved, yellowish pseudobulbs with a single thick, fleshy leaf, and a single cream-coloured flower with yellow, red or purple spots. It grows on trees and rocks in open forest, often in exposed places.
Bulbophyllum bracteatum, commonly known as the blotched pineapple orchid, is a species of epiphytic or sometimes lithophytic orchid that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has crowded pseudobulbs, tough, pale green or yellowish leaves and up to twenty five cream-coloured to yellowish flowers with purplish or reddish blotches. It usually grows in the tops of rainforest trees.
Bulbophyllum elisae, commonly known as the pineapple orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has crowded, wrinkled, pale green or yellowish clump-forming pseudobulbs, stiff, pale green to yellowish leaves and between three and twelve pale green to dark green flowers with a dark red to purple labellum. It usually grows in the tops of rainforest trees, on cliff faces or boulders.
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 johnsonii, commonly known as the yellow snake orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that has a thin, creeping rhizome with flattened pseudobulbs, each with a single tough, dark green leaf and a single bright yellow to orange flower on a thread-like stalk. It grows on trees, shrubs and rocks in and near rainforest in tropical North Queensland.
Bulbophyllum lilianae, commonly known as the warty strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has widely spaced, deeply grooved, dark green to yellowish pseudobulbs, thin but tough, dark green to yellowish leaves and up to three cream-coloured, pale green or reddish flowers with dark red stripes and a pink labellum. It grows on shrubs, trees and rocks, often in exposed situations.
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 macphersonii, commonly known as eyelash orchids, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to Queensland. It has tiny, crowded, slightly flattened, dark green pseudobulbs, a single thick, fleshy leaf and a single dark red to purplish red flower with a narrow labellum. It grows on trees and rocks in sheltered places.
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 newportii, commonly known as the cupped strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has widely spaced, oval or cone-shaped, light green pseudobulbs, a single stiff, dark green egg-shaped leaf and up to eight bell-shaped white, cream-coloured or greenish flowers with a long, narrow yellow labellum. It grows on trees and rocks, usually at moderate to high elevations.
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 schillerianum, commonly known as the red rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid. It has well-spaced pseudobulbs each with a single grooved leaf and cluster of small, red or orange flowers with a hairy labellum. It grows on trees and rocks sometimes in rainforest but also on trees in cleared paddocks, and is endemic to eastern Australia.
Bulbophyllum shepherdii, commonly known as the wheat-leaf rope orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that forms a dense mat of branching rhizomes pressed against the surface on which it grows. The pseudobulbs are well spaced along the rhizome, each with a single egg-shaped leaf and a single small, white or cream-coloured flower with yellow tips. It grows on trees and rocks in rainforest and is endemic to eastern Australia.
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 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.
Dendrobium macropus, commonly known as the Norfolk Island cane orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Norfolk Island. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs, thin, dark green leaves and between five and ten yellowish green flowers that do not open widely.
Dendrobium brachypus, commonly known as the dwarf cane orchid, is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It has crowded, yellowish green pseudobulbs, dark green leaves and two or three cream-coloured to whitish or greenish flowers which often do not open fully. It grows on trees and rocks on one mountain on Norfolk Island.
Dendrobium epiphyticum, commonly known as the Illawarra rock orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to New South Wales. It has tapered or cylindrical pseudobulbs, up to five thick, leathery leaves and up to fifty cream-coloured or pale yellow flowers with reddish purple markings on the labellum.
Dendrobium neospectabile, commonly known as the Eungella king orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has cylindrical, yellowish green pseudobulbs, up to three thick, leathery leaves and up to two hundred and fifty crowded cream-coloured to pale yellow flowers with reddish purple streaks on the labellum.
Phreatia limenophylax, commonly known as the Norfolk Island caterpillar orchid is a plant in the orchid family and is an epiphyte with four to six fleshy, channelled leaves in a fan-like arrangement. A large number of tiny white flowers are arranged along a thin flowering stem. It is found on the Solomon Islands, Norfolk Island, and on some other islands of the southwest Pacific.