Home › B › Bulbophyllum (From bulbos a bulb and phyllon)

Bulbophyllum (From bulbos a bulb and phyllon)

(from bulbos, a bulb, and phyllon, a leaf; referring to the leaves issuing from the apex of the pseudo-bulbs). SYNS. Anisopetalum, Bolbophyllum, Tribrachium. ORD. Orchideae. Of this rather large genus of orchids but few are worth cultivating except as curiosities. Racemes long or spike-like, very rarely one-flowered or sub-umbellate; sepals usually nearly equal and free; lip jointed to the foot of the column. They are of easy culture when grown on small blocks of wood with a little moss, and suspended in a warm part of the house; the roots require a good supply of water. Propagated by dividing the pseudo-bulbs.

The following comparative few of the aggregate number of species already introduced are really all that are worth the cultivator's attention; what the botanist often regards as being very pretty, &c., does not always appear such in the eyes of the grower.

B. barbigerum (bearded).* fl., sepals and petals greenish-brown; lip covered with dark-coloured hair, and so loosely attached at the base as to be moved with the slightest breath. Sierra Leone, 1835. A curious dwarf-growing plant, with dark green leaves and pseudo-bulbs. (B. R. 1942.) B. Beccarii (Beccari's). fl. light brownish and painted with violet; lip brown, with a violet hue, proceeding from a rhizome at the base of the leaf (just below the small pseudo-bulb), and at once turning downwards; racemes dense, cylindrical, nodding. l. three, 25in. long, 18in. across, very thick. Rhizome 20in. long. Brazil, 1879. A remarkable and gigantic climbing species; the odour of this plant is intolerably foetid, and the leaves are larger than those of any other known orchid. This species requires plenty of heat. (B. M. 6517.) B. Lobbi (Lobb's).* fl. large; sepals and petals yellow, the upper part spotted with purple; solitary, on radical scapes. Summer. Java, 1845. (B. M. 4532.) B. maculatum (spotted). fl. prettily spotted, l. long, obtuse, bright green. India.

B. reticulatum (netted-leaved).* fl. in pairs, white, striped inside with purple; lip spotted with the same colour. l. some what heart-shaped, with the nerves of a deeper green than the rest of the leaf, giving it a beautifully reticulated appearance. Brazil, 1866. Perhaps the handsomest of the genus. (B. M. 5605.) B. saltatorum (dancing). fl. greenish-brown, lasting some time in perfection. Winter. h. 6in. Sierra Leone, 1835. (B. R. 1970.) B. siamense (Siamese).* fl. pale yellow, striped with purple; lip yellow, streaked with purplish lines. A very pretty species, closely allied to B. Lobbi, but with longer and stouter leaves. Pseudo-bulbs ovate. Siam, 1867. Should be grown in a pot of peat and sphagnum.