Object Details
- Description
- This is one of the largest orchid species in the world, with leaves that can grow to over 6 feet long. The flowers of this orchid are not particularly large, but do produce a powerful stink to attract the blowflies and carrion beetles which are its pollinators. The fragrance has been imaginatively described in many ways, but suffice to say, it stinks.
- Bloom Time (Northern Hemisphere)
- January to May
- Pollination Syndrome
- Blowflies, carrion beetles
- Provenance
- From a cultivated plant not of known wild origin
- Accession Number
- 2007-1131A
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Life Form
- Lithophytic
- Bloom Characteristics
- Erect inflorescence is short with 20-30 flowers. Flowers are .75" across, but are covered in bracts that can be 1.8" long.
- Foliage Characteristics
- Dark green leaves can be up to 6' long.
- Fragrance
- Rotten meat
- Range
- New Guinea
- Habitat
- Cliff faces, riverine thickets in savannahs; 250-800m
- See more items in
- Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection
- Common Name
- Fletcher's Bulbophyllum
- Spies' Bulbophyllum
- Tongue Orchid
- Group
- [vascular plants]
- Class
- Equisetopsida
- Subclass
- Magnoliidae
- Superorder
- Lilianae
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Subfamily
- Epidendroideae
- Genus
- Bulbophyllum
- Species
- fletcherianum
- Smithsonian Gardens
- Topic
- Orchids
- Living Collections
- Record ID
- ofeo-sg_2007-1131A
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ax7dcbdf4ae-51b7-416e-a3af-76be836c0816
