''Bulbophyllum bracteatum'', commonly known as the blotched pineapple orchid, is a species of epiphytic or sometimes lithophytic orchid that is endemic to eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has crowded pseudobulbs, tough, pale green or yellowish leaves and up to twenty five cream-coloured to yellowish flowers with purplish or reddish blotches. It usually grows in the tops of rainforest trees.

Description

''Bulbophyllum bracteatum'' is an epiphytic, rarely an lithophytic

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with crowded, wrinkled, pale green or yellowish pseudobulbs long and wide. The leaves are elliptic to narrow oblong, thin, leathery, long and wide. Between five and twenty five cream-coloured or yellowish flowers long and wide are arranged on a bluish flowering stem long with many

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The sepals are long and about wide, the

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s about long and less than wide. The labellum is yellow, thick and fleshy, about long and wide. Flowering occurs between October and December.

Taxonomy and naming

The blotched pineapple orchid was first formally described in 1891 by

Robert D. FitzGerald Robert David FitzGerald (or possibly Robert Desmond FitzGerald) (30 November 1830 – 12 August 1892) was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet. Whilst working as a public servant FitzGerald's private passion and ability ...

who gave it the name ''Adelopetalum bracteatum'' and published the description in the '' Journal of Botany, British and Foreign'' from a specimen collected near the Tweed River. In the same year, Frederick Manson Bailey changed the name to ''Bulbophyllum bracteatum''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''bracteatum'') is derived from the Latin word ''bractea'', meaning "small leaf".

Distribution and habitat

''Bulbophyllum bracteatum'' usually grows on the highest branches of rainforest trees, rarely on rock faces. It occurs between the Bunya Mountains in Queensland and the Dorrigo Plateau in New South Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulbophyllum Bracteatum bracteatum Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Queensland Plants described in 1891