aoe 
334 ORCHIDACEAE. [ Bulbophyllum. 
A genus of over 275 species, with its chief centre of distribution in tropical Asia, 
but also found in tropical Africa, Austraha, New Zealand, and sparingly in South 
America. 
Leaves 4-lin. Peduncles 2-4-flowered. Lip orange-red .. 1, Bb, tuberculatum. , 
Leaves 4-4 in. Flowers solitary. Lip white .. 23 .. 2. B. pygmaeum. 
1. B. tuberculatum Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi (1884) 336, and xxi 
(1890) 488.—Forming densely matted patches on the trunks or branches of 
trees. Pseudobulbs 4-4 in. long, broadly oblong or nearly orbicular, almost 
smooth and unwrinkled when fresh, deeply rugose when dry, more or legs 
clothed with white bullate scales. Leaves solitary on the pseudobulbs, 
1] in, long, linear-oblong, acute at both ends, thick and deshy, slightly 
concave above, midrib prominent beneath, striate, under-surface with 
minute whitish dots. Peduncles very slender, almost filiforin, 5-2 in. long, 
2-4-flowered ; pedicels short; bracts minute. Flowers gin. long, white 
with a bright reddish-orange lip. Upper sepal oblong-lanceolate, subacute ; 
lateral larger, triangular, broad at the base. Petals triangular, much 
smaller than the sepals. Lip almost as long as the sepals, hinged on to 
the produced base of the column ; lamina oblong-ovate or subhastate, trun- 
cate at the base, concave, very thick and fleshy, lower part of disc with 
2 minute raised ridges. Column very short, stout, 2-winged at the top. 
Capsule broadly oblong, din. long.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z, Fl. (1906) 664 ; 
Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 191, B. exiguum Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi 
(1884) 397 (not of F. Muell.). 
Nortu Isuanp: Auckland—Kaitaia, R. H. Matthews! Lower Waikato, A. Carse! 
East Cape district, 7. Kirk. Hawke’s Bay—Petane, Ad. Hamilton! Wellington— 
Palmerston North, A. Hamilton! SoutH Istanp: Nelson — Collingwood, Dall! 
April-May. 
A charming little plant. It was referred by Mr. Buchanan to the Australian 
B. eviguum, and no doubt is closely allied to it, principally differmg in the smaller 
size and more compact habit, shorter peduncles, shorter and broader sepals and petals, 
and broader and thicker bright orange-red lip. 
2. B. pygmaeum Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. (1830) 58.—Minute, forming 
densely matted carpets on the trunks of trees or on rocks. Pseudo bulbs 
1_Lin, diam., globose or globose-depressed, glabrous, much wrinkled when 
dry. Leaves solitary on the pseudobulbs, springing from a minute circular 
sheath, 44in. long, linear - oblong, obtuse, very thick and coriaceous, 
erooved down the middle and minutely echinulate above, naked and longi- 
tudinally nerved beneath. Peduncles solitary from the base of the pseudo- 
bulbs, very short, 4-}in, long, 1-flowered; bract minute, Flowers very 
minute, whitish. Upper sepal narrow-ovate ; lateral rather larger, broadly 
triangular. Petals shorter than the sepals, oblong, subacute. Lip clawed 
on to the projecting foot of the column ; claw long; lamina ovate, obtuse, 
thickened, disc with indistinct ridges. Ovary broadly oblong, gibbous, 
minutely echinulate —A, Ounn. Precur. (1836) n. 817; Raoul Choix (1846) 
41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 240; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 268 ; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 664. B. ichthyostomum Col. in Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xxvi (1894) 319. Dendrobium pygmaeum Smith in Rees Cyclop. 1 
(1802) n. 27, 
Norru anp Sours Isnanps: On the trunks of trees or rocks, from the North 
Cape to Otago; in the South Island chiefly on the western side. Sea-level to 1500 ft. 
November—February. 
I do not see upon what grounds Mr, Colenso has separated his B. ichthyostomum. 
The type specimens in his herbarium appear to me to be typical B. pygmaeum. 
