Rchb.f.
Description
Bulbophyllum muscicola is a diminutive epiphytic orchid with a disjunct distribution from the eastern Himalayas (Nepal, northeast India, Bhutan) through Southeast Asia to New Guinea. The specific epithet 'muscicola' (moss-dweller) aptly describes its preferred microhabitat: the species grows embedded in moss mats on tree trunks and branches in cool, humid montane forests, typically at 1,200–3,100 m elevation.
This is one of the smallest Bulbophyllum species in the Himalayan flora. The pseudobulbs are minute, globose to ovoid, 3–8 mm tall, closely set on a threadlike, creeping rhizome. Each pseudobulb bears a single, fleshy, ovate leaf 1–3 cm long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or a short, few-flowered raceme on a filiform peduncle 2–5 cm long. Flowers are tiny, 3–5 mm across, translucent yellow to orange, with the lateral sepals connate for most of their length. The lip is minute, fleshy, and mobile. Flowering occurs from September to November.
Due to its small size, B. muscicola is easily overlooked in the field and is probably under-recorded. Its occurrence at the Dochu-La pass in Bhutan at 3,100 m places it among the higher-altitude records for the genus in the eastern Himalayas.
Author: Rchb.f. · Sources: POWO (Kew), Flora of Bhutan Vol. 3, GBIF, Pearce & Cribb: The Orchids of Bhutan (2002)