Bulbophyllum samoanum Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 9 (1911) 107
Type: Vaupel 546 (holo B, lost)
Epiphyte, very small, 6-9 cm high. Rhizome short. Roots filiform, flexuose, glabrous. Pseudobulbs narrowly conical, 0.7-1.7 by 0.3-0.45 cm below the middle; 1-leaved. Leaf erect, narrowly ligulate, minutely apiculate, glabrous, 5-8 by 0.45-0.7 cm at or above the middle; base gradually narrowed into a petiole. Inflorescence 1-flowered, short, 1-1.5 cm long, with a few small peduncle-scales. Floral bracts very small, many times shorter than the long pedicel. Flower erect. Median sepal elliptic-lanceolate, acute, glabrous, 1.1 cm long. Lateral sepals obliquely oblong, subobtuse, glabrous, 1.4 cm long. Petals oblong-ligulate, subobtuse, 0.35 cm long; from the middle to the apex with marginal papillae. Lip slightly curved, fleshy, oblongoid-ovate, obtuse, glabrous, 0.35 mm long, somewhat longer than the column; at the base in the middle slightly 3-ribbed. Column medium-sized; stelidia lanceolate-triangular, subobtuse, upper margin minutely 1-dentate. Pedicel and ovary very slender, c. 4 cm long. (After Schlechter, 1913)
Colours: Flower whitish with red veins. Sepals with yellowish apex.
Habitat: Epiphyte in lower montane forest; 1200 m.
Flowering time in the wild: June.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea), Samoa.
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua New Guinea; see map 96-1626M.jpg.
Cultivation: Intermediate growing epiphyte.