Cursory Google search says Australia used to be part of a landmass called Gondwana, containing Africa, Australia, parts of Polynesia and New Zealand, and the Indian subcontinent 600 million years ago.
Coincidentally Wikipedia says Bulbophyllum is found in a bunch of those locations. Wikipedia also suggests that Bulbophyllum emerged in the early Miocene, which went from 23 to 5 Mya, which, granted, is like way shorter than when Gondwana was around. Basically they spread towards Africa from Asia, getting more diverse over time.
Bulbophyllum and other orchids have teeeeeny seeds, so they probably spread and grew further out than the parent plants over successive generations. IIRC wind patterns tend to go east to west over SE Asia and India, towards Africa.
I’d imagine with how slow orchids grow and how slow evolution goes it would’ve taken way longer than 23 ish million years to get a different species.
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Cursory Google search says Australia used to be part of a landmass called Gondwana, containing Africa, Australia, parts of Polynesia and New Zealand, and the Indian subcontinent 600 million years ago.
Coincidentally Wikipedia says Bulbophyllum is found in a bunch of those locations. Wikipedia also suggests that Bulbophyllum emerged in the early Miocene, which went from 23 to 5 Mya, which, granted, is like way shorter than when Gondwana was around. Basically they spread towards Africa from Asia, getting more diverse over time.
Bulbophyllum and other orchids have teeeeeny seeds, so they probably spread and grew further out than the parent plants over successive generations. IIRC wind patterns tend to go east to west over SE Asia and India, towards Africa.
I’d imagine with how slow orchids grow and how slow evolution goes it would’ve taken way longer than 23 ish million years to get a different species.
https://preview.redd.it/c5dbdfxg8xsd1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89a2f84c8da95a606f68bb0fcb3fefdd2c28fcb6