Bulbophyllum lilianae, commonly known as the warty strand orchid,[1] is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that is endemic to tropical North Queensland. It has widely spaced, deeply grooved, dark green to yellowish pseudobulbs, thin but tough, dark green to yellowish leaves and up to three cream-coloured, pale green or reddish flowers with dark red stripes and a pink labellum. It grows on shrubs, trees and rocks, often in exposed situations.
Bulbophyllum lilianae is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb with well spaced, deeply grooved, dark green to yellowish pseudobulbs NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and 3sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. There is a single egg-shaped to oblong, thin but tough leaf NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide on the end of the pseudobulb. Up to three bell-shaped, cream-coloured, pale green or reddish flowers with dark red stripes, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide are arranged a thread-like flowering stem NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long. The dorsal sepals is egg-shaped to oblong, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. The lateral sepals are egg-shaped and curved, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide and the petals are oblong to egg-shaped, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The labellum is pink, egg-shaped, thick and fleshy, about 3sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and 1.5sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. Flowering occurs between July and September.
Bulbophyllum lilianae was first formally described in 1917 by Alfred Barton Rendle and the description was published in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign from a specimen collected near the summit of Mount Bellenden Ker.[2] [3]
The warty strand orchid grows on shrubs, trees and rocks, often in situations where it is exposed to full sun and wind or mist and fog. It occurs between the Cedar Bay National Park, the Evelyn Tableland and Paluma Range National Park.