lip are either parallel with or enfolding the column. 
Pollinia 2, suleate on broadly triangular to subquadrate 
stipe: viscidium large. Rostellum elongate. 
Plants epiphytic with terete leaves and axillary one- 
to few-flowered inflorescence. Flowers small to large, 
often showy. 
[t is quite surprising that the genus Papilionanthe has 
been ignored entirely in floristic works. Schlechter was 
justified in separating it from the genus Vanda and in 
determining its intermediary position between V’anda 
and Aerides. | have already pointed out (Bot. Mus. 
Leafl. Harvard Univ. 283: 158, 1972) that the Section 
Phalaenidium of Aerides must be combined with the 
genus Papilionanthe. A comparison of the longitudinal 
sections of the column and lip of Aerides cylindrica 
Lindl. and Papilionanthe teres (Roxb.) Schltr. shows 
them completely identical. As a matter of fact, in co- 
lumnar structure and in the elongate rostellum, Papilio- 
nanthe is much closer to Aerides than to Vanda. 
Schlechter’s precise observations have often been dis- 
missed because he was and still is considered a ‘‘great 
splitter’’. In my many years of acquaintance with 
Schlechter’s works, I begin to feel quite strongly that 
the distinction between ‘‘splitters’’ and ‘‘lumpers’’ rests 
not in one’s outlook and approach to the subject of sys- 
tematics, but rather in one’s power of observation of 
details and the ability of evaluating their significance. 
The flowers of Aerides Vandarum KRehb.f. and Aerides 
Biswasianum Mukerjee have somewhat narrower stipes 
than are found in other species, but in every other aspect 
they agree with the circumscription of the genus. 
[ 370 ] 
