There is immense variety within Bulbophyllum. Plants belonging to the genus all have a type of storage structure between the leaves called a pseudobulb, with a single node. The flowers grow from the base of the pseudobulb and feature a mobile labellum or lip, a specialized structure among orchids that serves to attract insect pollinators and offer them a place to land.
B. beccarii, which grows in the rain forests of Borneo, forms large, cup-shaped leaves around the trunks of trees, which the plant uses to catch debris and convert it into fertilizer. B. medusae, or Medusa's Bulbophyllum, grows in Thailand and Borneo and features white flowers with numerous snake-like sepals, reminiscent of the hair of Medusa of Greek myth. The rare B. fletcherianum of Papua New Guinea, also called the Tongue Orchid, is one of the largest orchids in the world, with leaves reaching six feet (1.8 meters) in length.
Many Bulbophyllum species are rare or endangered. B. bifarium and B. jaapii, two vulnerable species, as well as the endangered B. modicum, are endemic to Cameroon. B. gravidum, growing in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and B. bifarium, growing in Cameroon and Nigeria, are also vulnerable, while the endangered species B. pandanetorum grows in Cameroon and Gabon. B. rubrolabellum and B. tokioi are two endangered species native to Taiwan. The two critically endangered species, B. filiforme and B. kupense, both grow in Cameroon, with the former additionally growing in Nigeria.
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