Orchids of New Guinea

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Bulbophyllum lipochilum

Bulbophyllum lipochilum J.J.Verm., Schuit. & de Vogel, Lankesteriana 20(3) (2020) 322, fig. 14, 18C

Type: L alc. 18379 (De Vogel & Vogel, s.n., 2002) (holo L, spirit material).

Rather large pendent epiphyte. Roots attaching the base of the plant to the substratum, some roots growing over the rhizome towards its base, others spreading. Rhizome branched, to 50 cm long, Rhizome 0.18–0.22 cm diam., new shoot from the basal node of the pseudobulb; rhizome scales thin, withering soon. Pseudobulbs distinct, 0.6–2.5 cm apart, cylindrical-ovoid, 1.3–4.2 by 0.25–0.32 cm, hardly angular. Leaf: petiole 0.15–0.25 cm long; blade ovate, 3.2–7.2 by 0.35–0.55 cm, index 9.1–13.1; apex acute. Inflorescences single or a few together, c. 3.5 cm long, 1-flowered; peduncle 1.3–3.1 cm long; scales 3; floral bracts 0.35–0.4 cm long. Flowers: pedicel and ovary 0.8–1 cm long; basal node 0.15–0.3 cm above the floral bract attachment. Median sepal free, recurved, ovate-triangular, c. 1.35 by 0.24 cm, index 5.6–5.7; margins entire, minutely papillose; apex acute-acuminate; surface glabrous; 5-nerved. Lateral sepals free, recurved, falcate, triangular, c. 1.38 by 0.4 cm, index 3.4–3.5; margins entire, glabrous; apex acute-acuminate; surface glabrous; 5-nerved. Petals porrect, ovate, c. 0.52 by 0.35 cm, index 1.4–1.5; upper margin entire, glabrous, lower margin somewhat erose, densely papillose-ciliolate; apex acuminate; surface glabrous; 1-nerved. Lip recurved near the base, thick, ovate with drawn-out apex, c. 1.12 by 0.18 cm, index 6.2–6.3 (without spreading); margins entire, glabrous; apex obtuse; upper side concave close to the base and with two short, narrow ridges which start near the margins and then converge, leaving a wide gap in between, surface elsewhere convex; underside with a median furrow which is deep in the basal half, shallow elsewhere. Column including stelidia c. 0.24 cm long; column foot at the top widening; stigma narrowly obovate with slightly protruding base; stelidia about porrect, narrowly triangular, c. 0.11 cm long, acute, upper and lower margin with a slight, deltoid, obtuse tooth; pollinia 4, the inner two more than half as long as the outer.
(after Vermeulen et al., 2020)

Colours:

Sepals pale yellow-ochre, nerves dull red, petals with a few blackish dots along the upper margin. Lip glossy, orange-yellow, near the base red, at the top white.

Habitat:

Montane forest c. 25 m high, on steep slope, with scattered Araucaria trees. Elevation 2200 m.

Distribution:

Malesia (New Guinea).

Distribution New Guinea:

Papua New Guinea (Central Province); see map

Cultivation:

Cool growing epiphyte.

Flowering time in the wild:

in cultivation: November

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Dendrobieae
Subtribe Bulbophyllinae
Genus Bulbophyllum
Section Polymeres
Species Bulbophyllum gymnothema

Notes:

Bulbophyllum lipochilum J.J.Verm., Schuit. & de Vogel belongs in series C.

Bulbophyllum lipochilum J.J.Verm., Schuit. & de Vogel is most similar to Bulbophyllum chaunobulbon Schltr., with which it shares the scale-covered rhizome and the lax arrangement of the pseudobulbs and the glabrous lip, but differs in having wider petals (index 1.4–1.5, versus 1.7–3.0), in the ovate lip with a drawn-out apex (versus lip oblong), and in the about porrect stelidia (versus stelidia sigmoid).