Orchids of New Guinea

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Bulbophyllum clandestinum

Bulbophyllum clandestinum Lindl., Edwards's Bot. Reg. (1841) Misc. 77

Type: Loddiges cult. s.n. (Singapore)

Synonyms:

Epidendrum sessile J.Koenig in Retz., Observ. Bot. 6 (1791) 60 (non Sw.)
- Type: Koenig s.n. (no locality, probably Thailand) (holo K)
Phyllorchis sessilis (J.Koenig) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. (1891) 676
Bulbophyllum sessile (J.Koenig) J.J.Sm., Orchid. Java (1905) 448
Bulbophyllum trisetosum Griff., Not. Pl. Asiat. 3 (1851) 283; Icon. Pl. Asiat. pl. 293
- Type: not designated here
Oxysepalum ovalifolium Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Or. 5 (1851) 18, t. 1736
- Type: Griffith s.n. (Malacca?) (holo K)
Bulbophyllum ovalifolium (Wight) Parish in Mason, Burma 2 (1883) 191 (non (Blume) Lindl.)
Bulbophyllum teysmannii J.J.Sm., Orchid. Ambon (1905) 79
- Type: Teijsmann (Ambon) (not BO, not L)
Bulbophyllum myrianthum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 10 (1911) 178
- Type: Schlechter 20605 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, K, L, NSW, S)
Bulbophyllum profusum Ames, Philipp. J. Sci., C, 7 (1912) 137
- Type: Bur. Sci. (Ramos) 7971 (syn AMES?); 13785 (syn AMES?; isosyn BO, K)
Bulbophyllum sparsifolium Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 853
- Type: Schlechter 20216 (holo B, lost)
Bulbophyllum volkensii Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 52 (1914) 11
- Type: Volkens 483; Kraemer s.n. (1910) (syn B, lost)
Bulbophyllum bolovenense Guillaumin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. (Paris), sér. 2, 29 (1958) 500
- Type: Tixier 4, f. 203, 1955 (holo P)

Epiphyte, spreading, c. 25 cm long. Rhizome flexuose, stem-like, tightly covered with apiculate, sheaths. Roots at the base of the stem, filiform, glabrous. Pseudobulbs 2-3 cm apart, very small, cylindrical, appressed to the rhizome, 0.4-0.5 cm long; 1-leaved. Leaf obovate-elliptic, obtuse, 1.5-2.3 by 0.6-0.9 cm in the middle; base gradually narrowed into a petiole. Inflorescences 1-flowered, very short, with a few small peduncle-scales. Floral bracts cucullate, as long as the ovary. Sepals lanceolate, strongly acuminate-caudate, glabrous, hardly 0.5 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals obliquely elliptic, obtuse, glabrous, 0.15 cm long. Lip somewhat fleshy, ovate, obtuse, glabrous, 0.15 cm long; base subtruncate; apex slightly recurved. Column very short; stelidia falcate, obtuse, very short; column-foot porrect, apex somewhat incurved. Anther cucullate, glabrous. Ovary cylindrical, sessile, glabrous, 0.18 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1913)

Colours:

Flower white. Lip in basal half yellow.

Habitat:

Epiphyte in forest; 60-1850 m.

Distribution:

Malesia (Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, ?Lesser Sunda Is., Moluccas, New Guinea, Philippines), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Solomon Islands, Fiji.

Distribution New Guinea:

Papua (Indonesia); Papua New Guinea; see map

Distribution of Bulbophyllum clandestinum in New Guinea

Flowering time in the wild:

January, February, July, August, September, November, December.

References:

Smith, J.J., Orchid. Java, Fig.-Atl. (1911) fig. 340, as Bulbophyllum sessile (J.Koenig) J.J.Sm.
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 21 (1928) t. 295, fig. 1133, as Bulbophyllum sparsifolium Schltr.
Smith, J.J., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, Suppl. 2 (1934) t. 92, fig. IV, as Bulbophyllum teysmannii J.J.Sm.
Schlechter, R., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 74 (1934) t. 60, fig. 240, as Bulbophyllum myrianthum Schltr.

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Dendrobieae
Subtribe Bulbophyllinae
Genus Bulbophyllum
Section Oxysepala
Species Bulbophyllum clandestinum