BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



* Cambridge, Massachusetts Fall 1986 Vol. 30 No. 4 



THE GENUS DIMERANDRA 



Emly S. Siegerist 



many 



enigmatic one, because of the excessively large numbers of 

 heterogenous elements which have been indiscriminately assigned 

 to it. It was not until the early years of the twentieth century that 

 systematists gave a closer look at the various structures found 

 within this great complex of some 1200 species. It was during 

 such an examination in 1922 when Schlechter realized that the 

 very old Epidendrum stenopetalum together with a few similar 

 plants, indeed, do represent such a divergence in salient features 

 from the tvpe species of Epidendrum that they warrant their 



lmeran 



dra was proposed in conjunction with a new species from 

 Panama. Dimerandra initially had a very short span of life, 

 because the American botanists quickly labeled Schlechter as a 

 bona fide splitter. Perhaps, it is understandable that such an 

 attitude should have developed. In a closely knit group of plants, 



m 



mere 



another. The basic principle of design of similarity in dissimilar- 

 ity manifested in nature, however, does not depend upon 

 whether one is being a splitter or lumper, but rather upon one's 



Botanical Museum Leaflets (ISSN 0006-8098). Published quarterly by the Botanical Museum, Har- 

 vard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Subscription: $40.00 a year, net, postpaid. Orders 

 should be directed to Secretary of Publications at the above address. Second-Class Postage Paid at 

 Boston, Massachusetts. 



Published June 30, 1986. 



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