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.
In botany, a pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and homoblastic respectively. All leaves and inflorescences usually arise from this structure. Pseudobulbs formed from a single internode produce the leaves and inflorescence from the top, while those that are formed from several internodes can possess leaves along its length. The modified sheath leaves that appear at the base of a pseudobulb and often enfold all or part of it are usually dry and papery, though in some orchids the sheaths bear leaf blades and the leaves at the pseudobulb's apex are reduced to scales.
Dinema is a genus of orchids. It is represented by a single currently accepted species, Dinema polybulbon, native to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Odoardo Beccari was an Italian botanist famous for his discoveries in Indonesia, New Guinea, and Australia. He has been called the greatest botanist to ever study Malesia. The standard author abbreviation Becc. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
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 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 caldericola is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with inconspicuous, well-spaced pseudobulbs arranged along rhizomes which mostly hang from the surface on which they are growing. Each pseudobulb has a single, fleshy, channelled leaf and a single white flower with yellow tips. It grows on the trunks and larger branches of rainforest trees near the eastern border between New South Wales and Queensland.
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 cruciatum is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum found in Papua, Papua New Guinea, Seram Island, and Maluku Islands.
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 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 retusiusculum is a species of orchid in the genus Bulbophyllum.
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.
Cyrtopodium longibulbosum, the cana-cana, of the Ecuadorian Amazon and adjacent Peru and possibly Colombia is the largest Orchid species in the Western Hemisphere with large clusters of pseudobulbs each up to 11 ft 6 in in length by about two inches (5.1 cm) in width, yet it remained unknown to science until 1993.
Bulbophyllum maxillare, commonly known as the red horntail orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid with tapered grooved, dark green to yellowish pseudobulbs, each with a single large, thin leaf and a single reddish flower with yellow or white edges. The lateral sepals are much larger than the dorsal sepal which in turn is much larger than the petals. It grows on the lower branches of rainforest trees in India, New Guinea and tropical North Queensland.
Tropidophorus beccarii, also known commonly as Beccari's keeled skink and Beccari's water skink, is a species of lizard in the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the island of Borneo.
