Bulbophyllum arfakianum

Bulbophyllum arfakianum unfurled its flowers for the first time last week, and I was felled on the instant. There isn't a single vantage point from which the flower doesn't look ravishing. Bulbophyllum arfakianum is native to West Papua, Indonesia. The specific epithet, arfakianum, references the Arfak Mountains, an outstandingly rich region of biological diversity on the Bird's Head Peninsula. Bulbophyllum arfakianum grows as an epiphyte in lowland forest at 50 to 400 meters elevation.

How many other flowers can you think of that look as fantastic from the back as the front?
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The Cobra

It was like carrying a pet snake into a room full of people. It's always fun bringing this guy, Bulbophyllum grandiflorum, out of the backup greenhouses and into the Orchid Display House. Our Cobra makes friends easily, in spite of its menacing appearance.

The genus Bulbophyllum has been described as the Old World counterpart of the neotropical genus Pleurothallis, at least with regard to pollination. Bulbophyllum species have some of the same lures in their floral tacklebox: waving hairs, mobile appendages, red splashed carrion colors, the odor of decaying flesh. The lures attract flies who pollinate the flowers.

Notice the translucent 'windows' (fenestrations) on the dorsal sepal? Bulbophyllum grandiflorum shares this feature with some unrelated insect-trapping plants like Sarracenia minor, Darlingtonia californica and Nepenthes aristolochiodes. An insect trapped inside the flower (or pitcher) flies toward the light source, crashes into the back and falls toward the pollen source (or digestive juice) below.

Wondering what's inside the flower? Here's a closer look.

The huge sepals are what give this flower its hooded cobra-like appearance. The petals are tiny by comparison. The lip, which has a lovely fringe of purple hairs, is hinged -it is connected to the base of the column by a narrow flexible ligament that allow the lip to tip like a seesaw under the weight of an insect. As the insect redistributes its weight, the lip tips up, slamming the insect against the column and releasing the pollinarium onto the insect's body.

I was surprised to see that the lip flexes not only up and down, but also laterally, as you can see in the photo above. I'm not sure what purpose this serves, if any.

The flower in profile.

Here's the flower with one of the lateral sepals removed. From this angle, you can see that the lip, which has purple spots in its center, is oval and concave like a drum. It is turned slightly away from the viewer. This lateral movement to the right and left was persistent and it was present in all the flowers on this plant.

The genus Bulbophyllum is so large that it has been divided into sections. Bulbophyllum grandiflorum is just one species in Bulbophyllum section Hyalosema. There are more cobras! You can find pictures of them at Jay Pfahl's website.

Bulbophyllum frostii

Tiny boots. Wooden clogs. Elf shoes. Just about everyone has a footwear-related description of these flowers. 

They have an abundance of Bulbophyllum charm: a fringe of hairs, a hinged lip, and a decidedly off odor that most people politely overlook. 

Bulbophyllum frostii grows as an epiphyte in tropical lowland forests in Vietnam, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula. Like many other bulbophyllums, it has flowers that mimic carrion, making it attractive to flies that pollinate it.

Our Bulbophyllum frostii are thriving in 4" cedar baskets, but would be equally happy mounted on cork slabs. B. frostii is not fussy with respect to temperature. Warm or intermediate temperatures and 50% shade suit it just fine.

Openings: the Notorious (Stinky) Orchid

"Did something die in here?" people are asking as they sniff the air in the Orchid Display House and look around apprehensively.

The malodorous Bulbophyllum spiesii

Corpse Flower, the common name usually given to Amorphophallus titanum, could well be applied to the orchid Bulbophyllum spiesii.

In a group known for grotesquery, Bulbophyllum spiesii and B. grandiflorum are among the most lurid. Contrivances for luring fly pollinators--foul odors, carrion colors, slime, hairs, spots, hinged lips are common in the genus Bulbophyllum, but in these two species reach outlandish proportions.

Is Mike holding his breath?

Even when not in flower, B. spiesii is an impressive plant with softball sized pseudobulbs and pendulous leaves hanging nearly three feet long. Tres Fromme, our designer, casting a glance up into the rafters observed, "Now that's a manly plant."

The reptilian flowers of Bulbophyllum grandiflorum have fenestrations, translucent window pane markings similar to those seen on the funnel shaped leaves of many of the insectivorous Sarracenia.

Eric Christenson noted that in some respects the genus Bulbophyllum can be thought of as a primarily Old World counterpart of Pleurothallis, both genera showing similar adaptations to fly pollination.

You can see both of these orchids in flower now in the Orchid Display House.

Weird is cool.

Bulbophyllum (Cirrhopetalum) medusae

Here is orchid weirdness at its best. Something that Morticia Addams might wear as a corsage. In a genus known for offensive morbid odors and peculiar twitching parts, Bulbophyllum medusae stands out for being...graceful.

Not that it doesn't smell a bit funky--it does, as one might reasonably expect from a fly-pollinated Bulbophyllum. But the fragrance is pretty mild compared with the body-buried-under-the-stairs stench of Bulbophyllum carunculatum, or the road kill-with-bleu cheese bouquet of Bulbophyllum falcatum.

No, Bulbophyllum medusae dances rather than twitches in the breeze, an invitation to pollinators to come hither. The flower spike is a many-flowered umbel, like a globe-shaped Queen Anne's Lace. Each creamy flower has long (up to 8 inches) graceful sepals. Any twitching that occurs goes on inside the flower, each of which has a hinged petal (lip) to throw the pollinator off balance and up against the pollen masses.

It seems entirely fitting that Bulbophyllum medusae flowers at Halloween. A terrific addition to our Medusa orchid collection.