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Striped snake orchid

Bulbophyllum bowkettiae

Striped snake orchid
Photo: Lewis Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0

Bulbophyllum bowkettiae is a small epiphytic or lithophytic orchid from tropical North Queensland rainforest, grown for its tiny cream and red striped flowers. It needs humid, shaded conditions with good airflow and stays small, which makes it suited to mounts or pots.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Tree, Epiphyte, Bulb
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Water when the mount or medium is nearly dry, and mist or soak regularly in warm weather.
Soil
Mount on tree fern or cork, or grow in a fine, free-draining orchid mix.
Temperature
18–28 °C; protect below 12 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
N. & NE. Queensland
Climate
wet tropical

About

Bulbophyllum bowkettiae, commonly known as striped snake orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with thin, creeping rhizomes and flattened pseudobulbs each with a single tough, dark green leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with red stripes. It grows on trees and rocks in rainforest in tropical North Queensland, Australia.

Where it grows

Striped snake orchid is found in North Queensland, Australia, from the McIlwraith Range on Cape York Peninsula in the north, and from Big Tableland to the Tully River, usually at altitudes from 600 to 1,200 m (2,000 to 3,900 ft), but extends into the coastal lowlands to the south of Innisfail.

Other Bulbophyllum plants

Bulbophyllum abbreviatum · Bulbophyllum abbrevilabium · Bulbophyllum aberrans · Bulbophyllum ablepharon · Bulbophyllum absconditum · Bulbophyllum acanthoglossum · Bulbophyllum acropogon · Bulbophyllum acuminatum · Bulbophyllum acutibracteatum · Bulbophyllum acutiflorum · Bulbophyllum acutilingue · Bulbophyllum acutispicatum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bulbophyllum bowkettiae by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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