

1964 noted that it was an Epidendrum of the E. stenopetalum 

 complex. This flower turned out to be not only distinct, but 

 unique in the sense that the lip is completely free from the base 

 of the column. 



Perhaps one of the most intriguing puzzles comes from the 

 pen of Reichenbach, when, in 1862, he listed Isochilus elegans 

 Focke for the first time as a straight synonym of Epidendrum 

 stenopetalum. Focke's material is kept at Utrecht, but all of their 

 orchid specimens were on loan to Berlin during World War II, 

 where they all succumbed during the fatal bombing when most 

 of the Berlin herbarium was destroyed. Isochilus elegans, how- 

 ever, was not on loan because no one knew of its existence. 

 Cogniaux did not cite it in his treatise on Brazilian orchids and 

 Pulle did not in his Flora of Surinam, the country of origin of 

 the species. The only person who must have seen the type beside 

 Focke was Reichenbach. Incidentally, it should be mentioned 

 here that Reichenbach had a very good rapport with Focke, 

 having received from him either drawings or specimens or both 

 of most of his species. Isochilus elegans, however, was not 

 among them. Reichenbach's well-established practice of search- 

 ing out types described by other botanists must have led him to 

 Focke's collections in Utrecht. When I borrowed the holdings of 

 the Epidendrum stenopetalum complex from Utrecht, there was 

 only a single old sheet among them with the original old mount- 

 ing due to the above-mentioned loss. This particular sheet has a 

 label with Epidendrum stenopetalum written in Reichenbach's 

 hand. This was attested by Dr. Garay, one of the few who can 

 read Reichenbach's handwriting. An examination of this sheet, 

 which fortunately still had a flower in perfect condition, has 

 shown the characters completely matching and agreeing, includ- 

 ing the measurements, with Focke's original description of Iso- 

 chilus elegans! Therefore, it seems reasonable to consider it to be 

 the long unrecognized holotype of Isochilus elegans. In as much 

 as none of Focke's original material at Utrecht bears annotation 



labels in Focke's handwriting, this specimen, because of lack of 

 an original annotation, did escape the fire at Berlin. 



Due to the recent practices among botanists who fail to rec- 

 ognize the principle of diversity in similarity, every specimen in 



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