Bulbophyllum sandersonii (Hook.f.) Rchb.f. 1878 SECTION Megaclinium G A Fischer & J J Verm in prep.
Photos © by Natsui
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Common Name Sanderson's Bulbophyllum [South African Orchid Enthusiast 1800's]
Flower Size 1/8" [3 mm]
Found in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Rwanda and Zaire in riverine woodlands and submontane forests at elevations of 800 to 1600 meters as a small sized, warm to cold growing epiphyte and occasional lithophyte on large rocks in montane grasslands at elevations of 200 to 2200 meters with 1 to 2" [2.5 to 5 cm] in between each, four-angled, ovoid to conical, yellow green pseudobulb that carry 2, apical, elliptic to narrowly oblong, thick and leathery leaves that blooms at most any time of the year on a basal, 3 to 8 " [7.5 to 20 cm] long, many flowered, fleshy, bilaterally compressed, purple spotted to green inflorescence with distichous flowers and only a few open at any one time.
Synonyms Bulbophyllum bibundiense Schltr. 1906; Bulbophyllum melleri Rchb.f. 1878;; Bulbophyllum mooreanum Robyns & Tournay 1955; Bulbophyllum pusillum (Rolfe) De Wild. 1921; *Bulbophyllum stenopetalum Kraenzl. 1895; Bulbophyllum tentaculigerum Rchb.f. 1878; Megaclinium pusillum Rolfe 1894; Megaclinium sandersonii Hook.f. 1871; Megaclinium tentaculigerum (Rchb.f.) T.Durand & Schinz 1894
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing/photo fide; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982 photo fide; Malawi Orchids Vol 1 La Croix 1983 drawing fide; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984; Orchid Monographs Vol 2 - A Taxonomic Revision of the Continental African Bulbophyllinae Vermeullen 1987 photo/drawing fide; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 OPrchidaceae Part 1 Pope 1995 drawing fide; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 photo fide; African Orchids in the Wild and in Cultivation La Croix 1997; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999 drawing/photo fide; Bulbophyllum and Their Allies Siegerist 2001; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; Orchidaceae Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 drawing fide
Bulbophyllum sandersonii subsp. stenopetalum (Kraenzl.) J.J.Verm. 1986
Photos courtesy of © Danny Lentz Copyright ©
Found at elevations of sealevel to 1000 meters and differs from the type by the much thinner petals and the all yellow sepals occuring in the spring only
Synonyms Bulbophyllum minor (De Wild.) De Wild. 1921; Bulbophyllum minus (De Wild.) De Wild. 1921; Bulbophyllum rhodopetalum Kraenzl. 1905; Megaclinium minor De Wild. 1903;Megaclinium minus De Wild. 1903; *Bulbophyllum stenopetalum Kraenzl. 1895
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 as B melleri photo fide; Orchid Monographs Vol 2 - A Taxonomic Revision of the Continental African Bulbophyllinae Vermeullen 1987 photo/drawing fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 as B sandersonii var stenopetalum photo/drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 77 #3 2013 photo fide; Orchidaceae Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 as B stenopetalum drawing good/photo fide
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