Species Information - Bulbophyllum cerastes

Bulbophyllum cerastes J.J.Verm., Schuit. & de Vogel, Lankesteriana 20(3) (2020) 301, fig. 2

Type: Van Royen, Sleumer & Schram 7803 (holo L).

Synonyms:

Medium-size epiphyte. Roots spreading. Rhizome creeping, c. 0.5 cm diam., new shoot from the basal node of the pseudobulb; rhizome scales thin, soon caducous. Pseudobulbs.5–1.0 cm apart, distinct, ovoid, hardly angular, 1.7–3.5 by 0.7–1.2 cm. Leaf: petiole 1.6–2 cm long; blade elliptic to obovate, 10.5–16.0 by 2.5–4.1 cm, index 3.4–5.2, with acuminate apex. Inflorescences few to many together, 1-flowered, 3.5–4.5 cm long; peduncle 0.08–0.19 cm long; scales c. 3; floral bracts 0.4–0.52 cm long. Flowers: pedicel and ovary 1.5–1.6 cm long; basal node c. 0.42 cm above the floral bract attachment. Median sepal free, recurved, elliptic, c. 0.9 by 0.4 cm, index 2.2–2.3; margins entire; apex acute; glabrous; 5-nerved. Lateral sepals free, recurved, elliptic-ovate, c. 0.98 by 0.58 cm, index 1.6–1.7; margins entire; apex acute; glabrous; 5-nerved. Petals porrect, obovate, c. 0.3 by 0.2 cm, index c. 1.5; margins entire, at the top papillose; apex obtuse; the back surface papillose at the top; 1-nerved. Lip recurved about halfway, 3-lobed, elliptic-obovate in outline; lateral lobes attached to the median lobe slightly below half-way its length, projecting, retrorse, thin, at the top slightly downwards falcate, narrowly triangular, with obtuse apex, glabrous; median lobe thick, c. 0.26 by 0.16 cm, index 1.6–1.7 (without spreading), with entire margins, the apex acute-acuminate, beyond the attachment of the lateral lobes ciliate, the upper surface glabrous, in basal part about flat, the top part with two rounded ridges which start close to the margins just in front of the lateral lobe attachment, then converge, meet and continue as a short single median ridge to near the apex of the lip, median lobe at the underside convex and glabrous at the base, slightly convex at the top and increasingly hirsute towards the margins. Column including stelidia c. 0.26 cm long; column foot slightly widened, with 2 small, patent, obtuse lateral teeth; stigma obovate, at the base with a thickened edge which in lateral view does not protrude from the lower margins of the column; stelidia straight, narrowly triangular, c. 0.11 cm long, with acute apex; anther viewed from above about triangular, with a raised ridge, glabrous, pollinia 4, the inner two more than half as long as the outer two.
(after Vermeulen et al., 2020)

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