Bulbophyllum nematopodum
Bulbophyllum nematopodum, commonly known as the green cowl orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that has small, flask-shaped pseudobulbs pressed against the surface on which it grows. Each pseudobulb has roots at its base, a single shiny, fleshy leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with red spots on its top. It grows on trees and rocks in rainforest and is endemic to tropical North Queensland.
Description
Bulbophyllum nematopodum is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb that has crowded. flask-shaped pseudobulbs long, wide with a long narrow neck and pressed against the substrate. Each pseudobulb has an egg-shaped leaf long and wide on a stalk. A single cream-coloured or pale green flower with red spots, long and wide is borne on a thread-like flowering stem long. The dorsal sepal is long, wide and the lateral sepals are long and wide. The petals are about long and wide. The labellum is pink to red, oblong, about long, wide, fleshy and curved. Flowering occurs from September to November.
Bulbophyllum nematopodum was first formally described in 1873 by Ferdinand von Mueller who published the description in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae from a specimen collected by John Dallachy near Rockingham Bay. The specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek words nema meaning "thread" and pous meaning “foot”.
Distribution and habitat
The green cowl orchid grows on trees and rocks in rainforest where mists are common. It is found between the Cedar Bay National Park and the Paluma Range National Park.