Online Exhibit

An exhibit of noteworthy plants from the University of Guam Herbarium

Bulbophyllum sp. ORCHIDACEAE

The pseudobulbs and the leaves of this newly discovered and undescribed Bulbophyllum somewhat resemble another Mariana Island endemic B. guamense, but the plant is smaller and more delicate. The pear-shaped pseudobulbs are 1.5 cm long and about 1 cm in diameter, and close together on creeping rhizomes. The roots are thin, wiry and often conspicuous. One narrow elliptic stiff leaf emerges from the top of each pseudobulb.

The leaves often drop from the bulb before the inflorescence, a single flowere on a 3-mm stalk, forms on the rhizome near the base of the pseudobulb. The 5 mm long, pale green sepals are the longest part of the flower. The lip is fleshy, slipper-shaped and bright yellow; the lateral petals are pale green, almost transparent and very small. Flowers last less than two days, and the seed capsules mature in about three months. The plant blooms several times a year. This species has been found only in the Mariana Islands on Guam and Rota.