Orchid Information - Genus Bulbophyllum section Hoplandra

Bulbophyllum section Hoplandra J.J.Verm., Nordic J. Bot. 26 (2008) 147. Type species: Bulbophyllum restrepia Ridl.

Synonyms:

Small epiphytes. Rhizomes creeping; rhizome bracts thin to rather thick, approx. glabrous, caducous including the veins. Roots sprouting below the pseudobulbs, spreading, corrugated, papillose or hirsute. Pseudobulbs conspicuous compared to the size of the plant (rather inconspicuous in Bulbophyllum restrepia), 1-leafed, with shoots usually sprouting from its basal node and free, not fused to the pseudobulb. Leaves persistent, thick, veins inconspicuous. Inflorescences sprouting from nodes along the length of the rhizome, single; 1-flowered. Peduncle usually longer than the pseudobulbs (shorter in Bulbophyllum louisiadum), but not or only slightly overtopping the leaves (much longer than the leaves in Bulbophyllum contortisepalum), peduncle bracts 3—5, (sub-)basal, the upper (slightly) below half-way the peduncle. Flowers: floral bracts tubular; pedicel with the basal node well above the attachment of the floral bract, longer than the ovary. Sepals: the median free, 5—21 mm long, elliptic to ovate, distally distinctly and often sharply conduplicate, obtuse to acuminate, glabrous, thin to thick, with or without a thickened top, 3—5-veined; the laterals free or connate along the lower margin and/or with the caudate tops entwined, 1.6—6.5 times as long as the median; 8—65 mm long, ovate to triangular, obtuse to long-caudate, glabrous, thin to thick, 5—8-veined. Petals 2—5 mm long, ovate to triangular (elliptic in Bulbophyllum louisiadum, wedge-shaped in Bulbophyllum drepanosepalum), subacute to long acuminate (distally tridentate in Bulbophyllum contortisepalum, Bulbophyllum falciferum), margins entire to (slightly) erose, glabrous; thin, 1—3-veined, surface glabrous. Lip mobile on a thin ligament, undivided, 1.7—2.5 mm long, oblong, ovate to triangular (5.5—7 mm long and divided in an ovate basal part and an elliptic top part, separated by a slight constriction in Bulbophyllum louisiadum), margins entire to slightly erose, glabrous to papillose or ciliate, surface glabrous, or papillose towards the margins or the tip; adaxially often more or less concave near the base, without ridges (a somewhat bifid median callus near the base in Bulbophyllum louisiadum). Column with the rostellum front well receding in between the stelidia, stigma narrow, slit-like to wide, without keels inside, proximally not protruding, column foot not or hardly tapering towards its top, free part short; tip with or without an inconspicuous median tooth just short of the ligament, without lateral teeth. Stelidia approx. 1/2 of the length of the column or shorter, distinct, triangular to subulate, often with a tooth along the upper or lower margin. Anther with a rounded crest, inflated and deeply concave; front margin turned backwards, not drawn out. Pollinia 2, without appendages.

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