One very popular flower is the orchid. Most likely the reason for this is its exotic look. And even more unique, in the orchid family, is the black orchid. The black orchid's genus name is bulbophyllum. This specific orchid belongs within a species that can vary greatly with their appearance.

The name of this plant, bulbophyllum, originates from both Latin and Greek. The latin term "bulbus" is bulb-like, and the greek term "phyllon", means leaf. This is descriptive of the form of the plant. Black orchids are one of the largest plants in the Orchidaceae, or Orchid, family. It is even one of the largest plants in the whole plant kingdom. There are about 1805 black orchid species. Studying them all can be quite difficult.

There are many different species of the bulbphyllum, and they can greatly vary in their form, look, smell, environment, and growth pattern. Identifying this plant can be diffucult, and most of the time is done by looking at the specifics and the structure of the flowers of the plant.

This genus can range from anything between a winding root climber, and an erect plant. This is why it is so important to know the specifics about identifying a true bulbophyllum. This is why it can be extremely difficult, even for the most experienced taxonomist. But since it is such a challenge, it also makes it that much more interesting.

One more thing that varies with the black orchid is the environment in which it grows. Some different countries that they flourish in range from Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, South America, and Papua New Guinea. Almost one third of the species orignated from Papua New Guinea. This makes the forests in Papua New Guinea diverse with these sophisticated plkants. Some of these habitats and forests are losing their natural form, which is inhibiting their growth.

Quite a few of these species are under the immediate threat of becoming extinct. There are four that are on the endangered species list, and two of those are critically endangered. The bulbophyllum filiforme is native to Cameroon and Nigeria where it grows in sub-tropical or tropical dry forests. These forests are losing their natural habitit and in turn have placed it on the critically threatened list. The bulbophyllum Kupense is also on this list. It is native to Cameroon as well, but only grows in a sub-tropical moist montane.

The black orchid is intricate in its design, not to mention both beautiful and exotic. It makes it much more interesting to study as the common person may not be able to lable a black orchid as such.

It is very important that we work together to preserve their natural environments, so that they can grow and we can continue to study this obscure and complex plant.