Most nocturnal orchid

Bulbophyllum nocturnum is the first known example of an orchid with flowers that open at night and wither come daylight. Native to the volcanic island of New Britain, off Papua New Guinea, the orchid was first discovered by Dutch botanist Ed de Vogel. Its unusual flowering pattern only “came to light” back in the Netherlands when the buds of collected specimens kept dying under normal cultivation conditions. It was only when Dr de Vogel took one of the orchids home that he observed a bloom opening at around 10 p.m. – a habit that was repeatedly demonstrated – with the flowers going on to wither and die at around 10 a.m., a few hours after sunrise.

Night-flowering plants are fairly rare. There are those whose blooms open at night, such as the corpse flower (Rafflesia arnoldii) – the largest single flower – but then remain open for around a day before perishing. Much rarer are plants that bloom exclusively in darkness; these include the queen of the night cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) and the midnight horror tree (Oroxylum indicum).

While a few other night-time orchids are known of (often using scent to draw in pollinators such as moths), their flowers also remain open during the day. The distinction between those and Bulbophyllum nocturnum is that the latter relies solely on night-time pollination by, experts suspect, nocturnal midges.

The species was first described in a paper published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society on 15 August 2011, by orchid specialists Jaap Vermeulen and Ed de Vogel of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, Andre Schuiteman of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, and the grower of the plant, Art Vogel of the Hortus botanicus, Leiden.

Comprising about 2,000 known species, the Bulbophyllum genus is the largest group in the orchid family. This particular species belongs to the Epicrianthes subgroup, which are characterized by fine appendages dangling on their petals which, it has been suggested, resemble the fruiting bodies of slime moulds.