Bulbophyllum tripaleum

Very interesting looking flowers. Like feathers

 

Very nice! I like these dangly appendages! The whitish/grayish pseudobulbs look pretty cool.

 

Interesting, I didn't know about the synonymity. It is based on:

Vermeulen, J. J., Phelps, J., & Thavipoke, P. (2014). Notes on Bulbophyllum (Dendrobiinae; Epidendroideae; Orchidaceae): two new species and the dilemmas of species discovery via illegal trade. Phytotaxa, 184(1), 012-022.

I think you can get the full PDF from this link.

Basically they found a plant with some flowers without the appendages (paleae) of the sepals, and other flowers with short appendages. They argues that there are variations with the existence of the appendages in B. lemniscatoides. So they synonymized them.

I'm not sure if it is a enough evidence. Could the one speciemen happen to be a hybrid? Comparing the illustration, I can see the strong similarity between B. dhaninivatii and B. tripaleum.

Seidenfaden's illustrations found in Swiss Orchid Foundation aren't too detailed for B. leminiscatum and B. leminiscatoides, and I can't quite see the floral bracts there. But compared to my plants, your plants has much larger bracts, so it looks quite different.

Did the flowers open more? They look still closed in the photos.

 

I think I gave the wrong link, so it didn't have the full PDF. But this link should give the full PDF.

I can see the lip in the first of your close up photos, and I can see that it doesn't have the keel, which the paper talked about.

From the illustrations of Seidenfaden, B. tripaleum seems to have shorter inflorescence (without considering the appendages). I mean the size of the flower cluster is smaller. Also, B. dhaninivatii seems to have longer internodes between the pseudobulbs. The shape of the side lobes of the column seems to be slightly different, too.

I don't completely know the function of the appendages, but I would also think that it could influence the pollinators. If they were used for pollinator attraction, this kind of parts could disappear (relatively quickly) if B. dhaninivatii has shifted their mating systems to more self-fertilization.

I looked at Orchid Roots (link), and there are some variations. The density of hair on the sepals seems to be quite variable, and Chuck's seems to be fairly sparse, but some other B. tripaleum seem to have quite dense fir-like hairs.

It is also interesting there are some with small appendages. Some of the photos are probably older flowers with shriveled appendages, but there are a few with fresh and short appendages with a bigger cluster of flowers.

You mentioned that one taxonomist would overrule. But it is just their opinion, and Kew happened to agree with them. In a long run, scientific field of taxonomy is somewhat democratic, and each people makes a decision based on the evidence presented (and hopefully there is a consensus). I am also underwhelmed by their presentation of the evidences to synonymize the two. But after looking at the Orchid Roots photos, I can see the possibility of intermediate forms. So I'm not sure, and I would like to see more studies, too.

 

Thank you Chuck-NH. I have been trying to figure out my Bulbophyllum also. I bought as Bulbophyllum tripaleum from Thailand. Buy my flowers are different and also are my Bulbs. Sorry my Pictures are not the greatest.

 

Hi Chuck,
No, that is as long as they grew. The flower spike lasted almost a whole month also.

Paul B

 

Paul, I also think that yours looks more like Bulbophyllum lemniscatum since the flowers are loosely attached to the stem (compared to B. tripaleum). Does the appendage (paleae) have a star-shaped cross-section? B. lemniscatoides is also related, but it has round cross-section (so the paleae is stick-like without grooves).

I would love to visit your greenhouse, Chuck! Meticulous?? Hmm, I'm more of a quick hack! For the dissection, I just pull them apart with tweezers, and put them on Scotch tape to flatten (double-sided is better, but it is more expensive). Indeed, I didn't dissect B. lemniscatum, because the flowers were too small with this technique. For the photo, I just rely on the camera with automatic focus stacking of Olympus E-M1. It's kind of a lazy way, but it is easy.

It would be cool if you can get hold of paleae-less B. dhaninivatii!

 

Thank You Chuck and Naoki,

Yes the appendages do have a star shape to them. Someone also told me that it might be related to lemniscatoides, but mine is also blooming. The colors are very different and the flowers on the lemniscatoides is smaller.

Thanks for the information and interesting topic on these Bulbophyllum. Anyways they are both very neat plants that I enjoy in my collection of growing Bulbophyllum. I do like the these small Orchids though I have about 14 nice size plants together and it still does not compare to the space that Bulbophyllum hamelinii takes.

 

B. lemniscatoides is different from B. lemniscatum. Since yours have the star-shaped cross section, it is the later. Seidenfaden's (1979) key uses the shape of inflorescence. B. lemniscatum has a cylindrical inflorescence like Paul's, B. tripaleum has a ball-like inflorescence like Chuck's.

 

This one from Western Thailand

 

This one is B.dhaninivatii