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Red Bead Orchid

Bulbophyllum minutissimum

Also called Squat Moss Orchid, Tiny Bulbophyllum

Red Bead Orchid
Photo: Lachlan Copeland, CC BY-SA 4.0

A tiny epiphytic orchid from eastern Australia with flattened red or green pseudobulbs and minute flowers. It is a species, not a genus, and it needs steady humidity and moisture, so it suits a mounted or humid growing setup.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Tree, Epiphyte, Bulb
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep the roots and pseudobulbs evenly moist during growth and water less in cool dormant periods, using rainwater if possible.
Soil
Mounted on cork or tree fern with sphagnum moss, or in a fine bark or sphagnum mix.
Temperature
Warm to mild, about 15–30 °C; protect below 8 °C.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
E. Australia
Climate
subtropical

About

Bulbophyllum minutissimum, commonly known as the red bead orchid or grain-of-wheat orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with small, flattened, reddish or green pseudobulbs, scale-like leaves and small whitish to reddish flowers with broad dar red stripes. It grows on trees and rocks, mostly in swamps and near streams in eastern Australia.

Where it grows

Bulbophyllum minutissimum grows on trees and rocks in wet places, including swamps, stream banks and mangroves. It occurs between the Blackdown Tableland in Queensland and Milton in New South Wales.

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 minutissimum 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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