Bulbophyllum maximum (Lindl.) Rchb. f. 1861 SECTION Megaclinium Summerh. 1935 Photo courtesy of Nik Fahmi Vortex Orchid Pages

Inflorescence Photo courtesy of Wilella Stimmell

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Common Name The Largest Bulbophyllum

Flower Size 1/4" or less [.75 cm]

Found in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Nigeria, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola as a miniature sized, hot to warm growing, bifoliate epiphyte and an occasional lithophyte in open woodlands and riverine forests at elevations of 600 to 2100 meters with oblong to ovoid pseudobulbs carrying to 3, apical, oblong, apex rounded and emarginate thick and leathery leaf that blooms in the fall on a single, basal, erect, 20" [50 cm] and more long inflorescence arising on a mature pseudobulb with many [50], small, successive opening flowers spread out along the leaflike, flattened rachis with dentate edges.

This plant needs a distinct dry period in the winter as you do need some pseudobulb shriveling for strong growth to come on in the spring.

Synonyms Bulbophyllum ciliatum Schltr. 1906; Bulbophyllum cyrtopetalum Schltr. 1911; Bulbophyllum djumaense (De Wild.) De Wild. 1921; Bulbophyllum djumaense var. grandifolium De Wild. 1921; Megaclinium flaccidum Hook. 1851; Bulbophyllum maximum var. oxypterum (Lindl.) Pérez-Vera 2003;Bulbophyllum moirianum A.D. Hawkes 1956; Bulbophyllum nyassanum Schltr. 1915; Bulbophyllum oxypterum (Lindl.) Rchb. f. 1861; Bulbophyllum oxypterum var. mozambicense (Finet) De Wild. 1921; Bulbophyllum platyrhachis (Rolfe) Schltr. 1905; Bulbophyllum purpuratum [Lindley] Lindley 1862; Bulbophyllum purpuratum Schlechter 1906; Bulbophyllum subcoriaceum De Wild. 1921; Megaclinium djumaensis De Wild. 1903; Megaclinium maximum Lindl. 1830; Megaclinium oxypterum Lindl. 1839; Megaclinium oxypterum var. mozambicense Finet 1910 ; Megaclinium platyrhachis Rolfe 1897; Megaclinium purpuratum Lindl. 1862; Megaclinium subcoriaceum De Wild. 1921; Phyllorchis maxima (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Phyllorchis oxyptera (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 1 1958 drawing as Megaclinium maximum; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 as B oxypterum drawing/photo ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 2 1980 as B platyrhachis; 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; Orchid Digest Vol 58 No 4 1994 as Megaclinium platyrachis photo fide; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996; Orchids of Africa in the wild and cultivation La Croix 1997; Bulbophyllums and Their Allies Seigerist 2001; Orchids of Malawi La Croix 1983; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as B platyrhachis;

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