Bulbophyllum continentale (D.L.Jones, M.A.Clem. & H.C.Zimmer) R.Kr.Singh & Sanjeet Kumar APNI* Description: Epiphytic pseudobulbous herb with short, prostrate, creeping rhizome, forming a dense mat with pseudobulbs ovoid to conical or transversely elliptic, 5–8 mm tall by 3–6 mm wide, 4–6 mm apart on rhizome, contiguous, forming a continuous mat; pseudobulbs weakly furrowed, surfaces with scurfy remnants of fugacious bracts, appearing clothed with a coarse off-white powder.
Leaf single, oblong to narrow-elliptic, 20–25 mm long by 3–6 mm wide at midpoint, dark green, midrib sunken adaxially, ridged abaxially, margins recurved, apex acute.
Inflorescence arising from pseudobulb base, wiry, minutely warty by projecting cells, to 35 mm long and bearing 1 to 4 widely spaced flowers on pedicels to 1 mm long. Flowers cream with green-tinged base and yellow-orange to orange-red labellum. Flowers 3.0–3.5 mm tall and 4.5–5.5 mm wide across lateral sepals which spread widely; petals contiguous with, adpressed to, and partly enclosed by the dorsal sepal which extends forward and over the column; distal petal margins irregularly papillate. Labellum lamina trilobed, medial lobe elliptic to lingulate, evenly tapered from near midpoint, 3.0 mm long when flattened, yellow to orange-red in proximal third on the upper surface, and along margins of the lower surface, medially paler; lateral lobes erect, curved. Labellum claw attached to labellum base and apex of column foot.
Capsules asymmetrically ovoid, 5.0 by 3.5 mm, ribs prominent, with reddish warts on valve surface, pedicels reddish.
Distribution and occurrence: From the McPherson Ranges in south-east Queensland south to the Border Ranges, Gibraltar Range, Cotton-Bimbang National Park, and Dorrigo. Epiphytic on branches of trees and shrubs, either high in the canopy or within riparian vegetation in wetter forests, including rainforest and wet sclerophyll forests.
NSW subdivisions: NT, NC
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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