Abstract: Plants of the genus Bulbophyllum are used or substituted as Dendrobium,a famous and precious traditional Chinese herb which was short of resource as grown slowly and over collected in recent years.To understand if Bulbophyllum plants could be used as a substitute of Dendrobium,chemical and pharmacological studies on the genus were reviewed.Result showed that totally more than 60 compounds were isolated and characterized including phenanthrens,bibenzyls,phenyl propanoids,flavonoids,sterols and volatile components,and extract of B. kwantungense exhibited antitumor activity in vitro against cultivated human cervical carcinoma cell(Hela).Studies on plants of the genus in China would have important significance to the finding of new bioactive compounds and the protection of resources.