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karode13
Tāne Mahuta



Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Stinky Tongue Orchid 1
#14604636 - 06/13/11 04:55 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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I happened to read that a rare orchid from Papua New Guinea was in bloom at the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens. They've had it for about 40 years, it flowers roughly once every Ten years and goes by the common name of the Tongue Orchid, in botanical circles it goes by the name of Bulbophyllum fletcherianum.
While the flower does resemble a flock of tongues the smell on the other hand isn't pleasant. It's similar to rotting carrion and this smell is what attracts pollinators like beetles and blowflies to help the species survive.
It's a giant of an orchid, it dwarfs the others on the wall, with leaves growing up to 1.8 metres. It's epiphytic and relies on a warm humid environment. It was hard to get a picture without my lens fogging up. I got a few though.


This picture gives you a good idea of the size.

And I also spied this cool Theobroma cacao.
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 42,395
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: karode13]
#14604746 - 06/13/11 06:15 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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When you go to a place like that do you grab a handful of cuttings?
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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KBG1977
Registered: 08/23/08
Posts: 11,017
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: Doc_T]
#14604775 - 06/13/11 06:42 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Absolutely stunning!!!
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta



Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: Doc_T] 1
#14604935 - 06/13/11 08:03 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doc_T said: When you go to a place like that do you grab a handful of cuttings?
As much as I would like to I don't. There's a few reasons but the main one being is these places, Botanic gardens and the like, are responsible for a lot of work for conserving and propagating rare species and stealing from them is low IMO. If it wasn't for these sort of places we wouldn't be able to have half the cool plants we enjoy today. If I want exotic plants I do the hard yards and source my own by asking, trading, purchasing, etc. The adventure in that is half the fun in growing them.
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Brainiac
Rogue Scientist



Registered: 04/29/06
Posts: 13,259
Loc: 與您的女朋
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: karode13]
#14605351 - 06/13/11 10:17 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
karode13 said:
Quote:
Doc_T said: When you go to a place like that do you grab a handful of cuttings?
As much as I would like to I don't. There's a few reasons but the main one being is these places, Botanic gardens and the like, are responsible for a lot of work for conserving and propagating rare species and stealing from them is low IMO. If it wasn't for these sort of places we wouldn't be able to have half the cool plants we enjoy today. If I want exotic plants I do the hard yards and source my own by asking, trading, purchasing, etc. The adventure in that is half the fun in growing them.
Some of them have plant / cutting sale...To help fund the gardens
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Fair is Fair
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turtle_hermit
Psychedelic Ranger



Registered: 06/03/10
Posts: 1,626
Last seen: 8 hours, 48 minutes
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: Brainiac]
#14605911 - 06/13/11 12:12 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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That things huge! Anyone know why a plant would only bloom every decade?
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Distorted Vision
The best. Of the worst.



Registered: 07/30/09
Posts: 4,292
Loc: Indiana
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This is too cool, I hope to see one in bloom before I die. Nice post.
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"Yo yo just here to spread my clit and show ya'll what a wonderful and free being we are all inside lets take the acid and turn inside into the outside come on over baby lets smell the roses ohh ohh come on we're about to get lit show my undies to your baby I'll hug it down three times go around frown come on we aint a nice clown kiss me upside down down down come on sorry if you cant handle my wokeness come on lets take her panties off write shroomery on my asshole and taste it lick it make if feel like we was 1978 come on baby lets do the locamotion"-Twig dude
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waixingren


Registered: 03/14/05
Posts: 2,644
Loc: SW Florida
Last seen: 10 days, 12 hours
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: karode13]
#14607840 - 06/13/11 06:14 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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great post, a unique plant for sure.
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ferrel_human
stone eater



Registered: 06/26/09
Posts: 16,320
Loc: Texas
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Re: Stinky Tongue Orchid [Re: waixingren]
#14609976 - 06/14/11 01:02 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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hey k-kman. that sabout as good as it gets.
to bad the nature of my enviroment allows for moslty cacti and little else by the way of plants.
for rarity, it would sure be a good addition to my collection.
-------------------- Nature is my church and walking through it is gospel. It tells no lies and reveals all to those who look, and listen, closely. -Karode
 Looking for Mimosa tenuiflora seeds. Buttons for trade
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta



Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Glad some of you enjoyed it. I thought it was rather cool and needed to be posted.
Quote:
turtle_hermit said: That things huge! Anyone know why a plant would only bloom every decade?
I'm not entirely sure to tell the truth but a lot of long lived plants seem to take their time flowering. Some bamboos for instance can flower once a decade or once a century. I'm guessing the more frequently it flowers, the less lifespan it has. Flowering takes a lot out of a plant as it puts all of its energy into propagating its species so infrequent flowerings makes sense from a longevity point of view.
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