Flowers small or large, solitary, spiked or racemed on a peduncle arising from the base of the pseudobulbs. Sepals nearly equal, the lateral ones adnate to the foot of the column. Petals usually smaller than the sepals. Lip contracted at the base and jointed on to the produced foot of the column, usually small and recurved, generally mobile. Column short, erect, produced at the base, often 2-aristate at the top. Anther terminal, lid-like, 2-celled; pollinia 4 (rarely 2), free, in pairs in each cell.
A genus of nearly 100 species, with its chief centre of distribution in tropical Asia, but also found in tropical Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and sparingly in South America.
| Leaves ½–1 in. Peduncles 2–4-flowered. Lip orange-red | 1. B. tuberculatum. |
| Leaves ¼–⅓ in. Flowers solitary. Lip white | 2. B. pygmæum. |
1. B. tuberculatum, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 336, and xxii. (1890) 488.—Forming densely matted patches on the trunks or branches of trees. Pseudobulbs ¼–⅓ in. long, broadly oblong or nearly orbicular, almost smooth and unwrinkled when fresh, deeply rugose when dry, more or less clothed with white bullate scales. Leaves solitary on the pseudobulbs, ½–1 in. long, linear-oblong, acute at both ends, thick and fleshy, slightly concave above, midrib prominent beneath, striate, under-surface with minute whitish dots. Peduncles very slender, almost filiform, ½–¾ in. long, 2–4-flowered; pedicels short; bracts minute. Flowers ⅙ in. long, white with a bright reddish-orange lip. Upper sepal oblong-lanceolate, subacute; lateral larger, triangular, broad at the base. Petals triangular, much smaller than the sepals. Lip almost as long as the sepals, hinged on to the produced base of the column; lamina oblong-ovate or subhastate, truncate at the base, concave, very thick and fleshy, lower part of disc with 2 minute raised ridges. Column very short, stout, 2-winged at the top. Capsule broadly oblong, ⅙16 in. long.—B. exiguum, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 397 (not of F. Muell.).
North Island: Auckland—Kaitaia, R. H. Matthews! Lower Waikato, Carse! East Cape district, Kirk. Hawke's Bay—Petane, A. Hamilton! Wellington—Palmerston North, A. Hamilton! South Island: Nelson—Collingwood, Dall! April–May.
A charming little plant. It was referred by Mr. Buchanan to the Australian B. exiguum, and no doubt is closely allied to it, principally differing in the smaller size and more compact habit, shorter peduncles, shorter and broader sepals and petals, and broader and thicker bright orange-red lip.
2. B. pygmæum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. 58.—Minute, forming densely matted carpets on the trunks of trees or on rocks. Pseudobulbs ⅛–⅙ in. diam., globose or globose-depressed, glabrous, much wrinkled when dry. Leaves solitary on the pseudobulbs, springing from a minute circular sheath, ¼–⅓ in. long, linear-oblong, obtuse, very thick and coriaceous, grooved down the middle and
