Bulbophyllum medusae

(Lindl.) Rchb.f. · species

image placeholder — illustration coming later

Plantae/Tracheophyta/Liliopsida/Asparagales/Orchidaceae/Bulbophyllum

At a glance

Occurrence records33

Data sources8

Biological traits6

DNA specimens3

eDNA detections3

Sources8 archives

Databases and archives Bulbophyllum medusae's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility33 records↗

ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗

PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype

On this page6 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements3 literature sources6 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF33 records

Environmental DNA1 datasets · 0 countries3 detections

DNA & barcodingBOLD3 specimens

Genome at a glanceCCDB1.3 Gbp

01Narrative

Bulbophyllum medusae, commonly known as the Medusa orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchid with a creeping rhizome and a single leaf about long emerging from the top of each pseudobulb. The flowers are creamy yellow and arranged in clusters of about fifteen arranged in a circle at the tip of the flowering stem. The flowers have an unpleasant odour. The flowers have thread-like lateral sepals about long, giving each cluster the appearance of Medusa. The Medusa orchid was first formally described in 1861 by John Lindley who gave it the name Cirrhopetalum medusae and published the description in Edwards's Botanical Register. In 1861, Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach changed the name to Bulbophyllum medusae. Bulbophyllum medusae grows on the trunk and main branches of trees in forest at altitudes up to in Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, the Lesser Sunda Islands and Sumatra.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesWCVPGIFTTRY

Life cycle & reproduction1

Life formpseudobulbous epiphyte

Diet & foraging1

Parasiteindependent

Habitat & environment4

Climatewet tropical

Climberself-supporting

Epiphyteobligatory

Growth formepiphyte

05DNA & barcoding3 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Bulbophyllum medusae has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens3

Marker genes3

eDNA detections3

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

★matK★rbcL★ITS

plant barcodefungal barcode

06Genome at a glanceCCDB

The complete instruction manual Bulbophyllum medusae carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.

Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is

Genome size1 261 620 000 bp

Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).

BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb

FUNGUS0.04 Gb

INSECT0.25 Gb

THIS GENOME Bulbophyllum medusae1.26 Gb

HUMAN3.2 Gb

WHEAT17 Gb

FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb

Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged

2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.

Chromosomes2n = 38 n = 19

Ploidydiploid inferred

Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references

2n 381×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl

CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Lim, K. Y. & K. Jones. 1982. The chromosomes of orchids VI. Bulbophyllum. Kew Bull. 37: 217–219.

Ploidy records — measured levels and diploid/polyploid inferences · click for sources

diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale

PloiDB · genus-scale — chromEvol; reliability=1.000 ↗

07Deep time~3.93 Ma lineage

How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.

At a glance

DNA clock origin3.93 Ma TimeTree

When this lineage existed

How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.

DNA clock origin

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type33 records

Wild obs. + sensor19

Museum / vouchered12

Other2

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO100 km²

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy82% within 1 km

≤100 m 9≤10 km 1>10 km 1

11 georeferenced · 8 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor19

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy100% within 1 km

≤1 km 1

1 georeferenced · 11 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence12

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions2 of 2 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
Denver, US	1
South Kensington, GB	1

2 institutions · 2 of 12 vouchered records shown · 10 without an institution code

09Environmental DNA3 detections

Where the DNA of Bulbophyllum medusae was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.

Signal

Detections DNA found3

Studies independent surveys1

Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections

Where its DNA was found

0 of 3 detections have coordinates

Open the map0 countries0

How strong is each trace?

DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.

How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.

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