Bulbophyllum gemma-reginae, an interesting new orchid species from Borneo

On a field trip into the interior of Sabah, Borneo, in 1986, a small Bulbophyllum species (Orchidaceae) without flowers was collected, and transferred to the greenhouse of Mr. P. Jongejan, Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Only after several years the plant rewarded the good care given to it with a few sprigs of flowers. It then appeared to be an undescribed species of great elegance, belonging to the section Hirtula Ridley. It displays an unusual combination of characters: it has a distinctly elongated lip, as is found in B. jolandae J.J. Vermeulen, and B. lasioglossum Rolfe, which both have an elongated inflorescence. The new species, however, has a subumbellate inflorescence, as occurs in B. carinilabium J.J. Vermeulen, and B. hirtulum Ridley, which both have a shorter lip