This is one of my more unusual species orchids I grow. One of my favorite genera of orchids to collect is Bulbophyllum and with nearly 3000 species it is one of the largest in the orchid family. I've managed to accumulate a dozen or so species so far. This particular species has a widespread natural range but during my research for this post I've found that it is threatened, vulnerable or endangered in the areas where it is native.(1)(2) They inhabit rain forests from sea level up to 5300 feet. It has pseudobulbs up to 1 3/4" long and spaced about 2" apart on the rhizome which is creeping. The single leaf can be up to 6" long.The inflorescence is up to 8" long and can bear six to eight flowers that form a semi-circle at the end.(3) The flowers have a unpleasant smell to put it mildly. This grows outside since it is a large species (and the smell). I do pamper this a bit with extra water all year to imitate the moist conditions it is native to.
Family: Orchidaceae •
Genus: Bulbophyllum •
Species: longiflorum (Thouars 1822) •
Country of Origin: Africa, Tropical Asia, Australasia, Pacific Islands •
Common Names: N/A •
(1)http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?8127
(2)http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=9227
(3)Botanicas Orchids 2002
Bulbophyllum longiflorum by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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