Bulbophyllum beccarii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Genus: Bulbophyllum
Species:
B. beccarii
Binomial name
Bulbophyllum beccarii

Bulbophyllum beccarii is by far the largest species in the genus Bulbophyllum and one of the largest in the orchid family.

Illustration showing the inflorescence of Bulbophyllum beccarii.

The thick rhizome, reportedly up to 20 cm in diameter (but the thickest reliably reported has been five cm.) snakes its way around tree trunks climbing up into the light. Along its length at intervals are the relatively small egg shaped pseudobulbs each with a huge thick, leathery leaf at their apex. They are up to 60 cm long and 20 cm wide, yellowish-green and point vertically. The huge bowl shaped leaves are designed to catch falling debris and turn it into fertilizers. The inflorescence is produced from the rhizome near one of the pseudobulbs and hangs downwards to about 20–22 cm and is composed of hundreds of small yellowish flowers netted with red that smell like rotting meat to attract various flies.[1][2] It grows in the rainforests of Borneo.[2]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bulbophyllum beccarii.
  1. 1 2 "Bulbophyllum beccarii Rchb. f. 1879 SECTION Leopardinae Bentham 1883". Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 Peter Parker (8 June 2002). "The siren of the species". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
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