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Bulbophyllum falcatum

Bulbophyllum falcatum
Photo: Averater, CC BY 3.0

Bulbophyllum falcatum is a pseudobulbous epiphytic orchid from tropical West and Central Africa, grown for its unusual wing-shaped flower spikes with dark red sepals. Keep it warm and humid, mounted or in a free-draining epiphytic mix, with a rest period between flowerings.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Bright indirect
Water
Water when the mix is nearly dry, reduce in the cool or rest period, and avoid soggy roots.
Soil
Free-draining epiphytic orchid mix, such as bark with sphagnum, or mounted on cork or a slab.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 15 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
W. Trop. Africa to SW. Kenya
Climate
wet tropical

About

Bulbophyllum falcatum is a species of plant in the family Orchidaceae endemic to tropical Africa from Sierra Leone up to the Congo and western Uganda. It is a member of the section Megaclinium. It has rachis shaped like a wing that are about 10 cm long and 8–10 mm thick. On each side of the rachis are a row of flowers with 10-15 flowers per row. The sepals of the flowers are a dark red and the petals are extremely small and resemble a thread. Of the floral parts the dorsal sepal is the biggest being 8–9 mm long and visually the most prominent part of the flower. Towards the end of the dorsal sepal there is a yellow thicker area.

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 falcatum 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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