MANGILAO (UOG) — An estimated 86% of land-dwelling species on Earth are yet to be described, according to a study in PlOS Biology, but with a newly published paper in Orchideen Journal by the University of Guam’s Western Pacific Tropical Research Center, an orchid endemic to Guam and Rota is no longer one of them.
The orchid, which has been known to local botanists for decades but never formally described, is now known as Bulbophyllum raulersoniae. The species is named posthumously in honor of Lynn Raulerson, the longtime curator of the University of Guam Herbarium, who first reported the taxon as unique.
The description was authored by Benjamin E. Deloso, a horticulturist at the Missouri Botanical Garden who earned his Master of Environmental Science from UOG in 2020; UOG environmental science graduate student Charles A. “CJ” Paulino; and Australian taxonomist Jim Cootes. Cootes has an orchid named for him, Bulbophyllum cootesii, or Cootes’ Bulbophyllum, according to the Smithsonian Gardens.
A step toward federal protection
Their paper notes that the orchid is only known to be on the islands of Guam and Rota in limestone forests that are at least 500 feet above sea level.
The historic geographical range of B. raulersoniae may be greatly reduced today due to habitat loss, the paper states, with the Lamlam-Alifan ridge in Southern Guam being a refuge for the species.
The authors made a recommendation to the International Union of the Conservation of Nature to assess the species as “endangered.”
‘A special orchid unique to the Marianas’
The researchers determined it was distinct from the other species of Bulbophyllum in the Mariana islands. It is smaller and grows on host plants, such as pandanus. The plants produce a solitary flower of about 1 cm in size.
“Trekking up Mount Lamlam multiple times to make our observations made me appreciate the importance of the habitat as a whole, not just the species we were studying,” Paulino said. “The ecosystem along the Lamlam-Alifan ridge is truly a special place containing some of Guam’s most interesting plants and animals. I hope this study encourages others to both conserve and restore our native habitat for the benefit of all that call Guam home.”
The Mariana Islands are home to 30 reported species of orchids, four of which are considered endemic to the archipelago and seven of which are endemic to Micronesia. B. raulersoniae adds to 2,200 known species globally in the Bulbophyllum genus.
Bulbophyllum raulersoniae orchids, known only to grow in Guam and Rota, produce a solitary flower of about 1 cm in size. The species, one of four orchids known to be endemic to the Mariana Islands, was formally described and named this year in Orchideen Journal by University of Guam graduate student Charles “CJ” Paulino as well as by UOG alumnus Benjamin Deloso and Australian taxonomist Jim Cootes.
Benjamin Deloso
Charles “CJ” Paulino
