Bulbophyllum Thouars
I. Bulbophyllum sect. Racemosae Benth. & Hook.f.
Epiphytes with creeping to occasionally straggling rhizomes;
Shoots developing from nodes below the pseudobulbs, not fused to them; bracts approximately glabrous, spiral vessels unknown.
Roots spreading, approximately glabrous to finely hirsute locally.
Pseudobulbs 1-leaved.
Leaves persistent, thick, veins inconspicuous.
Inflorescences developing from nodes below pseudobulbs, solitary, many-flowered, contracted to elongate racemes with flowers spirally arranged, opening simultaneously; peduncle bracts 3–7; rachis thickened or not.
Flowers resupinate; floral bracts not amplexicaul; pedicel with the basal node level with the attachment of the floral bracts, or less than the diameter of the pedicel above it, approximately as long as the ovary or less.
Sepals dorsal sepal free, 3–8 mm long, (ob-)ovate to elliptic, rounded to acuminate, 3–7-veined, margins entire, glabrous, surface glabrous, abaxially sometimes verrucate; lateral sepals like the dorsal sepal but 1.2–2.3 times longer, (loosely) adhering along the lower margin, 5.5–12.0 mm long, ovate, suba cute to acuminate.
Petals 1.5–4.5 mm long, ovate to triangular, approximately acute to caudate, glabrous, 1-veined, margins entire to erose or denticulate.
Labellum mobile on a thin ligament, auriclate, 2–5 mm long, oblong to ovate to triangular, margins entire, glabrous to papillose to ciliolate; adaxially with two ridges, sometimes also with a dorsal ridge, surface glabrous to papillose or hirsute, abaxial surface glabrous, auricles attached along the basal ¼–²∕₅ of the labellum, antrorse, margins approximately entire or erose to denticulate, glabrous.
Column with the rostellum anterior surface receding in between the stelidia apices, stigma proximally not protruding, column foot not widened toward the apex. Stelidia approximately ½ the length of the column or less, distinct, triangular, sometimes with a small tooth along the upper margin. Anther abaxially with a (low) rounded crest, anterior surface concave or not, anterior margin drawn out or not; pollinia 4, the inner ones more than half as long as the outer ones.
This section is represented by single species in Sindhudurg district: Bulbophyllum sterile
Bulbophyllum sterile (Lam.) Suresh
In D.H.Nicolson, C.R.Suresh & K.S.Manilal, Interpr. Van Rheede's Hort. Malab.: 298 (1988)
Epidendrum sterile Lam. in Encycl. 1: 189 (1783)
Bulbophyllum cupreum var. flavum Rchb.f. in Gard. Chron., n.s., 17: 330 (1882)
Bulbophyllum nilgherrense Wight in Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5: t. 1680 (1851)
Phyllorkis nilgherensis (Wight) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 677 (1891)
Ecology: It is epiphyte on Terminalia billirica in evergreen forest
Epiphytes or lithophytes.
Rhizome 2-3 mm thick, creeping, giving out at intervals a pseudobulb and a cluster of roots. Pseudobulbs 2-8 x 2-3 em, ovoid or conical-ovoid, yellowish-green, fleshy, irregularly 3-5.angled.
Leaf coriaceous, 1, from the top of the pseudobulb, fleshy, tapering into a petiole 1cm long; the lamina 4-15x 1.5-3.5 em, oblong or elliptic, obtuse, emarginate, entire, glabrous ; midnerve depressed above, prominent below with faint 4-6 lateral nerves; upper surface deep grass-green, lower much paler.
Inflorescence up to 12 cm long, generally shorter than the leaves, arising from the base of a pseudobulb, somewhat drooping, dense; peduncle 2 mm thick, mauve-purple, sheathed at the base.
Flowers 14-15 mm long, . pedicellate, bracteate, chrome-yellow, smelling of highly rotten meat. Pedicel with ovary 5 mm long, pale green.
Bracts 7X 2 mm, about as long as or shorter than the ovary, membranous, pale brown, oblong-Ianceolate, acute or subacuminate, entire, 3-nerved.
Sepals unequal, yellow very lightly tinged with green, entire, glabrous, faintly 5-nerved; dorsal sepal 6x3.5 mm, concave, ovate, the acute apex upturned ; lateral ones 9x 5 mm, subfalcate, sharply acute, obliquely united by the inner margins to form a hollow concave, cymbiform structure, which is produced below about the middle, into a short subglobular sac.
Petals 4x 1.5 mm, pale yellow, gland-dotted, parallel along the column, subobliquely ovate-triangular, entire, 1-nerved, with an apiculum 1 mm long.
Lip 7x4 mm, strongly arcuate, hinged on the column-foot, 3-lobed ; lateral lobes 2-3x 1 mm, purplish-brown with red margins, erect along the foot, linear, acute, entire; midlobe 4-5 x 2-3 mm, ovate-lanceolate, fleshy, subacute, serrate, yellow with 2 brownish ridges in between the lateral lobes.
Column 5x 2 mm, flat or subconcave and red on the inner side, rounded and yellow on the dorsal ; produced above from the sides into 2 slender acute teeth 1 mm long; foot 3 mm long, slightly curved, at about right angles to the column, rounded and orange-yellow on the dorsal surface, broadly red-streaked and subconcave on the ventral, truncate at the apex.
Anther yellow, subconical, obtuse, with the anterior lip minutely serrulate; pollinia 4, attached in pairs, waxy, brownish-yellow; glandular disc small, somewhat flask-shaped. Stigmatic surface yellow with red mar gins, elliptic.
Flowering: December