good one Geoff
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I hope you can appreciate my sense of humour - if you have been affected by the dreaded virus you may not think it funny and I will and do apologise; but I was reminded of it when I saw these flowers.
Actually it is Bulbophyllum kwangtungense - a funny name itself. Reminds me of the Goon Show - all those years ago on British radio ( - maybe when I was in my teens - 70+ years ago....before we had the telly ! ) I doubt if it ever made it elsewhere, needed a rather lunatic sense of humour to laugh at it perhaps.
Whatever. This not my favourite orchid ; I tell you why ; the entire head of flowers is perhaps 15 across. 15 what ? I hear you say - well, not inches, not centimetres, but millimetres. So very much under one inch, not much over 1/2 inch. And moreover, here is the plant :-
The history is , that many (!) years ago I saw a pic of the flower, not the plant, and thought it interesting and bought one. When it arrived it was a little thing, 3 or 4 bulbs, each not more than the size of half a thick matchstick , spaced a matchstick length apart by rhizome. I potted it, grew it, potted it on, etc etc. I filled a 4 inch pot, then a 5 inch saucer and so on. Ended up here overflowing a 25cm, 10 inch saucer - without ever flowering. Until now. I looked at it, hanging up in the roof, and thought -"that plant is a waste of space" 10 years, 25 years or whatever - however long I have had it ( the starting point lost in the mists of time) - its gotta go... Fished it down, and lo and behold a bud.Only took a couple of weeks to get as far as shown, so I guess that it won't last long. Actually there are three other flowers or buds not seen unless you look very closely. Flowers on bulbs two years old, not on the last ones made.
I don't think it is ever going to be more than a curiosity - I intend to break it up into a hundred pieces, and take to the next Orchid Society meeting - when we are allowed to have one (!) and say- help yourselves.
good one Geoff
Nice bulbo.
hahaha.... nice one! And what a beautiful bulbo!
cheers,
BD
Well,that is quite the story and plant! Very cool flower! I was going to ask you if there were anymore blooms but you answered that. Enjoy it after all these year!
Thanks for this extraordinary plant and the interesting story.