Bulbophyllum gracillimum

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Wispy umbrella orchid
LR007 72dpi Bulbophyllum gracillimum.jpg
Illustration of B. gracillimum by Lewis Roberts
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. gracillimum
Binomial name
Bulbophyllum gracillimum
(Rolfe) Rolfe [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Cirrhopetalum gracillimum Rolfe
  • Cirrhopetalum psittacoides Ridl.
  • Bulbophyllum psittacoides(Ridl.) J.J.Sm.
  • Cirrhopetalum leratii Schltr.
  • Bulbophyllum leratii(Schltr.) J.J.Sm.
  • Cirrhopetalum warianumSchltr.

Bulbophyllum gracillimum, commonly known as the wispy umbrella orchid, [2] 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.

Contents

Description

Bulbophyllum gracillimum is an epiphytic herb that has a creeping rhizome with olive green pseudobulbs 10–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) wide well spaced along it. Each pseudobulb has a single thick, leathery, olive green, oblong to narrow egg-shaped leaf 50–80 mm (2–3 in) long and 30–35 mm (1.2–1.4 in) wide on its end. Between six and ten flowers are arranged in a spreading, semi-circular umbel 150–250 mm (5.9–9.8 in) long. The flowers are purplish red, resupinate, 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long and 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) wide . The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, about 3 mm (0.12 in) long and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide, forming a hood over the column. There is a long, hair-like tip 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long on the dorsal sepal. The lateral sepals are 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) wide and fused to each other along their sides at the base. The ends of the lateral sepals taper into long, thread-like "tails" 18–25 mm (0.71–0.98 in) long. The petals droop with long hairs on the tip, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide . The labellum is white to cream-coloured, fleshy, curved, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) wide with a groove along its midline. Flowering occurs between August and March in Australia. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy and naming

The wispy umbrella orchid was first formally described in 1895 by Robert Allen Rolfe and given the name Cirrhopetalum gracillimum. The description was published in the Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew [1] [5] [6] but in 1907 Rolfe changed the name to Bulbophyllum gracillimum. [7] The specific epithet (gracillimum) is a Latin word meaning "slenderest". [8]

Distribution and habitat

Bulbophyllum gracillimum grows on trees in stunted rainforest and in other damp, airy places in Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji and Queensland. In Queensland it occurs in the Iron and Janet Ranges at altitudes of 300–400 m (980–1,300 ft). [2] [3] [4] [9]

Conservation

This orchid is classed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. [10] The main threat to the species is illegal collecting by orchid enthusiasts. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bulbophyllum globuliforme</i>

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.

<i>Bulbophyllum bowkettiae</i> Species of orchid from Australia known as the striped snake orchid

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 argyropus, commonly known as the silver strand orchid, 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.

<i>Bulbophyllum baileyi</i> Species of orchid from Australia and New Guinea

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 boonjee commonly known as the maroon strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has crowded, flattened pseudobulbs, stiff, pale green leaves and up to four small, bell-shaped maroon flowers with darker stripes.

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.

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

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 evasum, commonly known as the creeping brittle orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with creeping brittle rhizomes, small, stubby pseudobulbs and dark green, fleshy leaves. The flowers are small, pink to reddish with dark stripes and yellow tips, clustered on the end of a dark red flowering stem. This orchid grows in rainforest on tree trunks and branches as well as on rocks, in tropical North Queensland.

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

Bulbophyllum gadgarrense, commonly known as the tangled rope orchid, 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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

<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 callitrophilum</i> Species of orchid

Dendrobium callitrophilum, commonly known as the thin feather orchid, is an epiphytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae with narrow pseudobulbs, one or two thin, leathery leaves and up to six greenish yellow flowers with a cream-coloured or apricot-coloured labellum. It grows in or near rainforest in isolated parts of tropical North Queensland.

Dendrobium crassum, commonly known as the tableland feather orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has cylindrical, dark reddish brown pseudobulbs, up to three thick, leathery leaves and up to ten white flowers with purplish markings on the labellum.

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

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bulbophyllum gracillimum". 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. 425. ISBN   978-1877069123.
  3. 1 2 "Cirrhopetalum gracillimum". Trin keys: Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Bulbophyllum gracillimum" . Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. "Cirrhopetalum gracillimum". APNI. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  6. Rolfe, Robert Allen (1895). "New Orchids:Decade 13". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information. 1895: 34. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  7. "Bulbophyllum gracillimum". APNI. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  8. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 834.
  9. "Bulbophyllum gracillimum (Faune et Flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie)". endemia.nc. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  10. "Species Profile and Threats Database: Bulbophyllum gracillimum — Wispy Umbrella Orchid". www.environment.gov.au. Department of the Environment, Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  11. "Approved Conservation Advice for Bulbophyllum gracillumum" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 6 December 2018.