Bulbophyllum maximum (Lindl.) Rchb. f. 1861 SECTION Megaclinium G A Fischer & J J Verm in prep.
Photo by Nik Fahmi
Photo by Wilella Stimmell
Photo by 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, musky scented 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 ; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as B platyrachis; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as Megaclinium maximum drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 1 1958 as Megaclinium maximum drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as B platyrhachis; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 as B oxypterum; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 as B platyrhachis photo good; The Epiphytic Orchids of Malawi Morris 1970 as B platyrachis drawing ok; The Epiphytic Orchids of Malawi Morris 1970 as B oxpterum drawing ok; Notes on Cirrhopetalum Seidenfadden 1973; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 as B oxypterum drawing/photo ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 2 1980 as B platyrhachis photo fide; Die Orchideen lieferung 13 753 - 816 1983 photo fide; Orchids of Malawi Vol 1 La Croix 1983; Malawi Orchids Vol 1 La Croix 1983 as B platyrachis drawing ok; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984 as B platyrachis; Orchid Monographs Vol 2 - A Taxonomic Revision of the Continental African Bulbophyllinae Vermeullen 1987 photo/drawing fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 58 No 4 1994 as Megaclinium platyrachis photo fide; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Orchidaceae Part 1 Pope 1995 photo fide; ; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 photo fide; Orchids of Africa in the wild and cultivation La Croix 1997 drawing ok; Bulbophyllum and Their Allies Siegerist 2001 photo fide; Bulbophyllum and Their Allies Siegerist 2001 as B platyrachis; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 photo/drawing fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 as B maximun var oxypterum photo/drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 73 #3 2009 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 83 #6 2014 photo fide; Orchidaceae Of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko, Ejsmont, Baranow, Grochocka, Nowak, Margonska and Naczk 2015 drawing/photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 80 #2 2016 photo fide;
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