Vegetative propagation of bulbophyllum careyanum (hook) spreng of Southern Assam

Bulbophyllum careyanum (Hook.) Spreng. is one of the important sympodial epiphytic orchid species among the 700 species of the genus Bulbophyllum. It is popularly known as Carey’s Bulbophyllum. The flowering season for this orchid species starts from September and ends in December. The flowers last for 15-25 days. Due to its medicinal properties, the tribal people of Southern Assam use the bulb of this orchid species for curing different ailments. Nowadays, population of this orchid species is depleting due to over exploitation, habitat destruction and some other anthropogenic activities. Therefore, some conservation initiatives for this medicinally important orchid species deserve careful attention. Keeping the above in view the present work was taken up with the three different Growing Conditions, i.e. Growing Condition Number 1 (Brick + charcoal + wood (1:2:1) with soil); Growing Condition Number 2 (Brick + coconut husk + charcoal (1:2:1) with leaf mold) and Growing Condition Number 3 (growing on the Bauhinia variegata L) were taken into considerations. The results show that all the three Growing Conditions as mentioned above are suitable for the vegetative propagation of Bulbophyllum careyanum (Hook) Spreng, which is a medicinally important orchid species of Southern Assam (India).