Bulbophyllum saltatorium Lindl. 1837 SECTION Ptiloglossum Lindl. 1862

Photo by © Pieter C. Brouwer and his Nature Photo Website

Another Inflorescence

Photo by Jay Pfahl

Another Flower

Photo by Jean Marie Vanderwinden

Common Name The Dancing Bulbophyllum

Flower Size 3/4" [1.9 cm]

Found in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Central African Republic, Zaire, Rwanda, Angola and Uganda as a miniature sized, hot growing epiphyte in lowland forests below 900 meters with orbicular to ovoid pseudobulbs carrying a single, apical, elliptic to lanceolate, thick and leathery leaf that blooms on a pendulous, 1 to 33" [2.5 to 82.5 cm] long, few to many flowered raceme with simultaneously opening flowers occuring in the winter.

Very similar to Bulbophyllum barbigerum in plant and flowers. This species grows in hot temperatures and needs a moisture holding medium, high humidity, partial shade and good air circulation.

This species and Bulbophyllum tremulum are quite similar, but the differentiation is the linear, glabrous petals of this species versus the elliptic-ovate, ciliate petals of B tremulum.

Synonyms Bulbophyllum calamarium Lindl. 1843; Bulbophyllum kindtianum De Wild. 1904; Bulbophyllum nudiscapum Rolfe 1909; Bulbophyllum rupincolum Rchb.f. 1865; Bulbophyllum saltatorium var. calamarium (Lindl.) J.J.Verm. 1986; Bulbophyllum schinzianum Kraenzl. ex De Wild. & T. Durand 1862; Bulbophyllum schinzianum var. phaeopogon (Schltr.) J.J.Verm. 1986; Phyllorchis calamaria (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Phyllorchis saltatoria (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963 as B kindtianum; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 as B distans photo good; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984 as B distans; Orchid Monographs Vol 2 - A Taxonomic Revision of the Continental African Bulbophyllinae Vermeullen 1987 photo/drawing fide; The Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb, Laurent 1992 as B distans photo fide; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 as B distans; African Orchids In the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997; Bulbophyllums and Their Allies Seigerist 2001 as B calamarium; Bulbophyllum and Their Allies Siegerist 2001; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 as B calmarium photo/drawing fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 as B distans photo/drawing fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 photo/drawing fide; Orchidaceae Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 drawing/photo fide; Orchidaceae Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 as Bulbophyllum saltatorium var. calamarium Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 as Bulbophyllum B distans; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #2 2019 photo fide;

Bulbophyllum saltatorium Lindl. 1837 var albociliatum [Finet] J.J.Vermeulen 1986

Photo by Egon Krogsgaard

Another Plant

Photo by Guy Ramette Vovan and His Orchids Of Gabon Website

Flower Closeup

Flower Closeup Another Angle

Photos by Kjell Nilsson

This plant is larger in all aspects - leaves, pseudobulbs, inflorescence and flowers. It also has the flowers more towards the apex of the inflorescence and is found in West Central Africa at elevations of 750 meters.

Synonyms *Bulbophyllum calamarium var. albociliatum. Finet 1911; Bulbophyllum distans Lindley 1862; Bulbophyllum finetii Szlach. & Olszewski 2001; Bulbophyllum flexiliscapum Summerh. 1956; Bulbophyllum graciliscapum Summerh. 1953 publ. 1954; Bulbophyllum mildbraedii Kraenzl. 1909; Phyllorchis distans (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchid Monographs Vol 2 - A Taxonomic Revision of the Continental African Bulbophyllinae Vermeullen 1987 photo/drawing fide; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 photo/drawing fide; Bulbophyllum and Their Allies Siegerist 2001 as B distans;

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