''Bulbophyllum newportii'', commonly known as the cupped strand orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has widely spaced, oval or cone-shaped, light green pseudobulbs, a single stiff, dark green egg-shaped leaf and up to eight bell-shaped white, cream-coloured or greenish flowers with a long, narrow yellow labellum. It grows on trees and rocks, usually at moderate to high elevations.

Description

''Bulbophyllum newportii'' is an epiphytic or 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 ...

that forms dense clumps. It has a creeping

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and well spaced, oval or cone-shaped, light green pseudobulbs long and wide. There is a single egg-shaped to oblong, stiff, dark green leaf long and wide on the end of the pseudobulb. Up to eight bell-shaped, white, cream-coloured or greenish, rarely pink flowers, long and wide are arranged on a thread-like flowering stem long. The dorsal sepals is egg-shaped, long, about wide and forms a hood over the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

. The lateral sepals are triangular and curved, long and wide and 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 are about long and wide. The labellum is yellow, fleshy and curved, about long and wide. Flowering occurs between September and December.

Taxonomy and naming

The cupped strand orchid was first formally described in 1902 by Frederick Manson Bailey who gave it the name ''Sarcochilus newportii'' and published the description in ''The Queensland Flora'' from a specimen collected on Mount Alexandra by Howard Newport. In 1909 Robert Allen Rolfe changed the name to ''Bulbophyllum newportii''. 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 ...

(''newportii'') honour the collector of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimen.

Distribution and habitat

''Bulbophyllum newportii'' grows on trees and rocks, mostly at moderate to high altitudes, usually in humid, airy locations and often in exposed places. It is found on the

McIlwraith Range The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, the McIlwraith Range covers about and lies about east of the town of Coen, and nor ...

and between the

Cedar Bay National Park Ngalba Bulal is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. In 2015, Cedar Bay National Park became the Mangkalba (Cedar Bay) section of the Ngalba Bulal National Park. Geography The park is northwest of Brisbane, south o ...

and Eungella National Park in Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4995246 newportii Orchids of Queensland Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1902