Bulbophyllum lasiochilum E.C.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874).Synonym:
Phyllorkis lasiochila (E.C.Parish & Rchb.f.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 677 (1891).
Cirrhopetalum lasiochilum E.C.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874).
Cirrhopetalum breviscapum Rolfe, Bot. Mag. 131: t. 8033 (1905).
Bulbophyllum breviscapum (Rolfe) Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay. Penins. 1: 78 (1907).
Common name: Wooly haired lip Bulbophyllum
Distribution: Mayanmar, Thailand, Malaysia.
ORCHIDACEAE Juss. Fortnight: Bulbophyllum lasiochilum C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f. from Hong Kong, PKS-155 : Attachments (3). 2 posts by 2 authors.
Bulbophyllum laxiflorum (Blume) Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 57 (1830). Somehow this is a mistake. The pics on this thread belongs to Bulbophyllum lasiochilum
Modified by … as below
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874).
Phyllorkis lasiochila (C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 677 (1891).
Cirrhopetalum lasiochilum C.S.P.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874).
Cirrhopetalum breviscapum Rolfe, Bot. Mag. 131: t. 8033 (1905).
Bulbophyllum breviscapum (Rolfe) Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay. Penins. 1: 78 (1907).
Distribution: Indo-China to W. & C. Malesia
ORCHIDACEAE: Bulbophyllum lasiochilum E.C.Parish & Rchb.f. from KFBG (from Thailand): Bulbophyllum lasiochilum E.C.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874).
Synonyms:
Phyllorkis lasiochila (E.C.Parish & Rchb.f.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 677 (1891). Cirrhopetalum lasiochilum E.C.Parish & Rchb.f., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 30: 153 (1874). Cirrhopetalum breviscapum Rolfe, Bot. Mag. 131: t. 8033 (1905). Bulbophyllum breviscapum (Rolfe) Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay. Penins. 1: 78 (1907). Family: Orchidaceae
Distribution: Mayanmar, Thailand, Malaysia Current pic taken at KFBG. Plant is collected from Thailand. Normally the colour is more of yellow but this is red variant. If you look at the lip, there are some droplet like things shining. These are naturally found on the lip, may be secretions to attract insects. Lasiochilum refers to the ‘lasio’ – hairy (wooly) margin of ‘chilum’ –
parts of labellum. Mesmerizing Catch!!!!! Flora Picture of Year 2012: Pankaj Kumar: I can’t say that this is the best picture I have taken, but just wanted to share to emphasize the importance of study on Plant-Pollinator interactions.
Bulbophyllum is one of the largest genera of epiphytic orchids which are very widespread and at the same time have a very peculiar mode of pollination by insects. The floral morphology is very diverse and so is the odour which can be drastically bad as a rotten fish or as good as fragrance of rose+vanilla. They dont have spur but the labellum and other part of flowers have glands that secretes some compounds which attracts insects. They even secrete chemicals on the labellum to attract insects.
You may like to read this to understand more:
The pic is one of such potential pollinators on a species, Bulbophyllum lasiochilum Parish & Rchb.f.. This is the yellow form of the species
Implications: Plant-Pollinator study becomes very important for any species which is assume to be rare and their existence is threatened. If the pollinator is missing then even if the plants have no other threat, they wont survive for long. A pollinator is must for maintaining the genetic diversity within a species, in natural condition. Unfortunately such studies are lacking in India and hence there is an immense need to undertake such studies so as to design proper conservation management plans for important plant species.
Great capture. The fluorescent bee is stunning!
… they are not bees, they are flies.
Excellent close-up shot … and a nice write-up with useful information. I wonder how much time you spent with patience to capture this great image!!! Nice photography, as usual. Superb. Very informative post and perfect photograph showing Plant-Pollinator interaction. A very nice idea of presenting an important subject with a beautiful picture associated with it.
Pollination in Orchid is really an extravagant activity and many species input a lot of effort to attract pollinators so as to help the plant in getting pollinated.
The genus Bulbophyllum is one such group where resins and oils are secreted by glands located on various parts of the flowers including petals, sepals and labellum. Insect visit these flowers and crawl upon various parts of the flower licking oils and resins from floral surfaces. Very often they crawl onto the labellum which is very flexible and hinged towards inner side and can even shake with moving wind, giving illusion of a living organism. The labellum is perfectly balanced and can take the weight of the insect. As the insect walks toward inner side the labellum, due to shift of weight towards inner side the labellum turns up and insect is pushed towards the stigma on the column. On both sides of stigma are claw like structures called stylidia. When the insect is pushed inside due to uplifting of the labellum, stylidia gets stuck on the back of the insect. Feeling trapped, the insect wants to come out and while struggling to do so, it can either dislodges the operculum and carry the sticky pollinia outside, or, if it is already carrying a pollinia then inserts exactly onto the stigmatic cavity. The Orchid in this pic is Bulbophyllum lasiochilum Parish & Rchb.f. and the insect is a Hoverfly. There is no pollinia on the back of the insect yet, but then it all depends on the matter of luck. All flowers don’t get pollinated after-all. It is a natural way of delimiting sexual reproduction in plants. Hope you all will like this pic. Best regards and happy new year 2014. Incredible picture & Informative write up as usual 🙂 Marvelous piece of ‘Nature at work’. Incredibly sharp picture with beautiful narration of the process. I like it! (and who will not?). A beautiful description for a significant process, in a very simple way.. needless to say that the image is excellent… Thanks a lot … hope you find lots of lovely orchids to share this year … Wonderful narration & picture, …
That’s why I say best Flora photographers are on efloraofindia.
I realised that last year I uploaded a pic of same series, so may be this pic could be discarded from this years photo of the year !! In my view, these kind of things never get old, another picture is, however, welcome…
Pollination can be ferocious : 13 posts by 6 authors. 3 images.
Please find some pics shwing pollinators on an Orchid called Bulbophyllum lasiochilum. I have shared few of these pics earlier too, but this time there are two extra images.
It depicts how ferocious act of pollination can be. The pollinator got stuck between the column and labellum and died there itself.
Hope you will find these interesting.
So sad… although this seems to be an accident, this shouldn’t have happened with an orchid 🙁
Yes this is accidental and caused because the insect was not able to release the anther cap and somehow went inside without doing it.
Bulbophyllum has a very peculiar trapping mechanism for pollinators. They have motile labellum and two fang like structures on the column. As the insect moves from the tip of labellum towards inside due to shift in weight the labellum turns upwards and the two fangs clutches the back of insect to hold it. At this point due to movement anther cap is supposed to fall off releasing the pollinia on the back of insect. Once the cap and anther is released, there is enough gap for the insect to come out after minor struggle.
I tried to make some bad sketch sitting on office table to depict this process. Hope it would be understandable.
Fangs are actually stelidia and the length and structure plats important role in identification of species and it also plays important role in deciding which insect can actually be a pollinator.
Thanks … for the nice illustrations and explanation. Very interesting!
The ‘trapping mechanism’ sounds like a carefully selected adaptive feature by some of this most-advanced group of plants. Being insectivorous would technically mean that the plant somehow evolved to produce enzymes like or similar to chitinase that can dissolve outer layer of insects. This is not the case here, The main aim is forced pollination and not killing. If the insects are trapped then its a matter of chance. I understand it is a clever adaptation to ensure pollination and thus seed-production to continue the legacy… But why trap? Trap is not to trap insect. Trap is to direct the insect to a right position at right time so pollinia can be stuck to its back. Please remember that the plant is not looking for self pollination. Plant is actually expecting that the insect will carry away the pollinia and pollinate another flower. Most of these Bulbophyllums (not all) are self incompatible. Got it, thanks. I wonder what reward Bulbophyllums have to offer to their pollinators. Are they looking for any specific type of pollinators, like wasps (?) in this case here, what about honey bees?
I wish I studied pollination biology…. There are glands on the floral parts which secrete oil, resins, wax etc. They are rewarding species. There is no nectar so no honey bees. Visitors are various kind of flies.
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum by … from Hong Kong
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum with pollinators: Bulbophyllum lasiochilum with pollinators
This is an orchid flower on which some flies comes and lick off oils and resins from the surface of flowers. While doing so they move on the labellum and column too and hence cause transfer of pollinia.
Picture was taken in KFBG using:
Camera: D700
Lens: 200mm micro
speedlight: 1 SB910 + R1 set.
Pic was taken in evening with low light.
References:
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