What is Bulbophyllum?

Bulbophyllum is the largest family of orchids and the third largest of all plants of plants. It boasts over 1,800 species, although the genus is not uniformly documented because many species have numerous synonyms. About 120 subgenera or sections were postulated and new species appear every year. Types Bulbophyllum grow in the tropical world, but the diversity center is in Papua -the Guinea, where there is more than 600 Bulbophyllum species. Two Australian species previously classified as Bulbophyllum have become only two members of the family oncophyllum , o. Globuliform and o. Minissimum , in 1961. All plants belonging to the genus have a type of storage structure among the leaves called pseudobulb with one node. Flowers grow from the base of the pseudobulb and have a mobile labelum or lips, a specialized structure between orchids that are used to attract insect pollinators and offer them a placeto land.

orchids in this family can be succulents, climbing or tall plants with stiff stems. Some species grow on other plants or on a rock. Most species have flowers with the aroma of rotting meat to attract insects of pollinators, often blowers or beetles carrion. The color, size and shape of flowers also show great diversity. Some Bulbophyllum flowers are furry or harsh to touch.

b. Beccarii , which grows in the rainforests of Borneo, forms large leaves in the shape of a cup around the tree trunks, which the plant uses to capture residues and convert to fertilizer. b. Medusae , or Medusa's Bulbophyllum, grows in Thailand and Borneo and offers white flowers with numerous snakes sewing, reminiscent of the Medus of Greek myth. Rare b. Fletcherianum Papua -nová Guinea, also called The Langue Orchid, is one of the largest orchids in the worldThe leaves reach a length of six feet (1.8 meters).

Many Bulbophyllum species is rare or endangered. b. bifarium a b. Jaapii , two vulnerable species, as well as endangered b. Modicum , are endemic for Cameroon. B. Gravidum , growing in the Cameroon and the equator Guinea and b. Bifarium , growing in Cameroon and Nigeria, is also vulnerable, while the endangered type b. b. Rubrolabellum and b. Tokyoi are two endangered species originally from Tai -wan. Two critically endangered species, b. Filiform and b. Cupénse , both grow in Cameroon, while the former grows in Nigeria.