Species library › Bulbophyllum › Bulbophyllum membranaceum
Orchids Well documented

Bulbophyllum membranaceum

A tiny creeping epiphyte with small round pseudobulbs, each with one leaf, and maroon flowers about 6 mm long. It ranges from Thailand and Malesia out to Palau, Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. It grows in warm, wet lowland and hill forest, including mangroves. It wants steady warmth, high humidity and frequent watering all year, and is best grown mounted.

Bulbophyllum membranaceum
Photo: Raabbustamante, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Herbarium labels describe it as a creeping epiphyte on tree trunks and mossy branches in humid forest. It also grows on mangrove trees (Rhizophora and Bruguiera in Palau and Samoa), in riverine and ridge forest, on a rock face in Sulawesi, and in dense cloud forest on Tanna in Vanuatu. It is often recorded as common where it occurs.

Mostly lowland: many labels are from near sea level, such as mangroves in Palau and Samoa, and from 100 to 450 m. The highest are 550 to 900 m in Vanuatu, Samoa and Sulawesi. The four measured elevations, 550 to 700 m, come from the upper end of this range.

ThailandPeninsular MalaysiaSumatraJavaBorneoSulawesiNew GuineaCaroline Islands (Palau)Solomon IslandsVanuatuFijiTongaSamoa

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.