Bulbophyllum microsphaerum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1913) 791
Type: Schlechter 18758 (holo B, lost; iso AMES, BO, L)
Epiphyte, long creeping, very small. Rhizome strongly elongated, filiform, flexuose. Roots filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs 2-2.5 cm apart, usually globose, sometimes ovate, 0.2-0.3 cm wide; 1-leaved. Leaf erect, woody or elliptic-ligulate, apiculate, glabrous, 0.6-1.5 by 0.25-0.4 cm near the middle; base weakly narrowed into a petiole. Inflorescence 1-flowered, 0.7-1 cm long, filiform, erect, with a few small peduncle-scales. Floral bracts very small, much shorter than the ovary and pedicel. Flower glabrous. Sepals elliptic, subacute or apiculate, 0.7 cm long. Lateral sepals oblique. Petals obliquely suborbicular, minutely apiculate, 0.3 cm long. Lip curved, somewhat fleshy, broadly elliptic, almost as long as the petals; at the base above minutely pitted; apex weakly lobe-like apiculate. Column short; stelidia short, upper margin subdentate, apex truncate; column-foot incurved. Anther obreniform-cucullate, umbonate, glabrous. Pedicel and ovary short, glabrous, 0.3 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1913)
Colours: Flowers yellowish, usually flushed with red.
Habitat: Epiphyte in montane forest; 2500 m.
Flowering time in the wild: November.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea; see map 96-1154M.jpg.
Cultivation: Cool growing epiphyte.