Bulbophyllum gadgarrense

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Tangled rope orchid
Bulbophyllum gadgarrense.jpg
Bulbophyllum gadgarrense on Mt Haig, Cape York
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Dendrobieae
Genus: Bulbophyllum
Species:
B. gadgarrense
Binomial name
Bulbophyllum gadgarrense
Synonyms [1]

Bulbophyllum gadgarrense, commonly known as the tangled rope orchid, [2] is a species of epiphytic orchid with small pseudobulbs hidden beneath purplish brown bracts, dark green, grooved leaves and small white flowers with orange or yellow tips. It grows on rainforest trees in tropical North Queensland.

Contents

Description

Bulbophyllum minutissimum is an epiphytic herb with tangled, branching, hanging stems 100–200 mm (4–8 in) long. The stems have purplish brown bracts that hide the pseudobulbs that are only 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide. Each pseudobulbs has a thick, fleshy, dark green leaf 15–30 mm (0.6–1 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) wide with a narrow groove and a stalk 2–3 mm (0.079–0.12 in). A single flower 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) wide is borne on a thread-like flowering stem about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long. The flowers are whitish with orange or yellow tips. The sepals are fleshy, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long, about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide and the petals about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide. The labellum is about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and less than 1 mm (0.04 in) wide and fleshy. Flowering occurs from July to September. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Bulbophyllum gadgarrense was first formally described in 1949 by Herman Rupp who published the description in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland from a specimen collected near Gadgarra on the Atherton Tableland by Frank Kajewski. [4] [5] The specific epithet (gadgarrense) is a reference to the type location. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Bulbophyllum minutissimum grows on mossy parts of rainforest trees where there is good air movement. It occurs between the Big Tableland and the Tully River in Queensland. [2] [3]

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<i>Bulbophyllum gracillimum</i> Species of orchid

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<i>Bulbophyllum grandimesense</i> Species of orchid

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 lageniforme, commonly known as the smooth strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has flattened, pale green, grooved, clump-forming pseudobulbs, stiff, dark green leaves and up to four cream-coloured or pale green flowers with a pink labellum. It usually grows on shrubs, trees and rocks in highland rainforest.

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 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 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.

<i>Bulbophyllum minutissimum</i> Species of orchid

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 psudobulb. This orchid grows on trees or rocks in or near rainforest in tropical North Queensland.

<i>Bulbophyllum schillerianum</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Bulbophyllum wadsworthii</i> Species of orchid

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 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.

<i>Bulbophyllum wolfei</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Dendrobium fleckeri</i> Species of orchid

Dendrobium fleckeri, commonly known as the apricot cane orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid endemic to far north Queensland, Australia. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs with two or three dark green leaves and up to four apricot-coloured or yellowish green flowers with tangled white hairs on the edge of the labellum.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bulbophyllum gadgarrense". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 428. ISBN   1877069124.
  3. 1 2 D.L.Jones; T.Hopley; S.M.Duffy (2010). "Factsheet - Oxysepala gadgarrensis". Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids . Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. "Bulbophyllum gadgerrense". APNI. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 Rupp, Herman; Hunt, Trevor E. (1949). "A review of the genus Bulbophyllum (Orchidaceae) in Australia". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 60. Retrieved 8 December 2018.