Bulbophyllum barbavagabundum J.J.Verm., Nordic J. Bot. 26 (2008) 192, fig. 35
Type: Leiden cult. 940509 (holo L), from Indonesia, Papua, Bird's head Peninsula
Roots sprouting mainly below the pseudobulbs. Rhizome 1-1.5 mm in diameter, sections between pseudobulbs 0.2-0.3 cm long, creeping, bracts not persistent. Pseudobulbs 0.35-0.5 by 0.35-0.6 cm, borne close together, erect, ovoid-globular, suffused purple. Leaves: petiole up to 0.1 cm long; blade 1-1.5 by 0.85-1.2 cm, index (length/width) 1.1-1.4, elliptic (-ovate), obtuse, abaxial surface suffused purple. Inflorescence c. 4 cm long, 1-flowered; peduncle c. 1.5 cm long, erect to patent; non-floriferous bracts c. 2, the longest c. 2.8 mm long; floral bract c. 2.8 mm long, tubular, acute. Flowers widely opening. Pedicel-and-ovary c. 17 mm long, basal node on a c. 3 mm long stump. Dorsal sepal c. 11.5 by 4 mm, index c. 2.9, ovate, acuminate, margins entire, base narrowly attached, thick, surface glabrous. Lateral sepals c. 11.6 by 3.9 mm, index c. 3, free, oblique, base broadly attached, otherwise as the dorsal sepal. Petals porrect, a seam along the side of the column c. 0.5 mm wide, with three tiangular teeth, the median drawn out into a subulate cauda with a swollen tip 1.9 mm long measured from the base of the petal, the two laterals obliquely porrect, obtuse, c. 0.5 mm long measured from the base of the petal, margins entire, thin, surface glabrous. Lip c. 7 by 2.5 mm, index c. 2.8, hardly recurved, ovate, acuminate with an obtuse tip, margins ciliate proximally, long-hairy distally, thick; adaxially with a distinct cavity near the base, bordered distally by a transverse ledge, beyond this the lip is first concave because of the upturned margins, then flat, with a narrow median furrow continuing up to about third of the length of the lip, bordered by two thin ridges, surface glabrous proximally except for a patch of papillae around the ledge, distally densely long-hairy with frizzled, entangled hairs; abaxially convex near the base, more or less flat elsewhere, surface glabrous proximally, hairy distally as on the adaxial side. Column c. 1.4 mm long; stigma oblong, with a single keel inside, with a distinct, smooth callus just below its base; foot short, narrowed; stelidia c. 0.4 mm long, triangular, with a wide, patent, deltoid, rounded wing along the lower margin; anther-cap abaxially with a flattened crest, surface glabrous, front margin drawn out into a truncate beak; pollinia 2, obovoid; no appendages. (After Vermeulen, 2008)
Colours: Sepals blackish purple proximally, elsewhere dull yellow adaxially, with ochre nerves abaxially, lip dark purple, almost black proximally, hairs purple but white at the tip.
Habitat: Epiphyte in hill forest; 450 m.
Distribution: Malesia (New Guinea).
Distribution in New Guinea: Papua (Indonesia); see map 96-2269M.jpg.