CAMBRIDGE, Massacuusetts, JANUARY 26, 1937 
BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
THE NOMENCLATORIAL STATUS 
OF SPIRANTHES SINENSIS 
BY 
F. Tracy Hupparp 
In 1919, Professor E. D. Merrill, in the Philippine 
Journal of Science 15 (1919) 230, adopted the combina- 
tion Spiranthes aristotelia (Raeusch.) Merrill in place of 
Spiranthes sinensis (Pers.) Ames. Furthermore, in 1935, 
in the Transactions of the American Philosophical So- 
ciety n.s. 24, pt. 2 (1985) 122, he commented on the va- 
lidity of this combination. Was he justified in adopting 
this new combination 4 
The earliest post-Linnean name applied to this spe- 
cies is Ophrys spiralis Georgi Bemerk. Reise Russ. Reich 
1 (1775) 282, non Linnaeus. The specific epithet, how- 
ever, is not available for two reasons, first because of the 
earlier Ophrys spiralis \.. (1758) and second because of 
the already existing Spiranthes spiralis C. Koch (1849). 
The second name given to the species is Aristotelea 
spiralis Loureiro FI. cochinch. 2 (1790) 522; ed. Willd. 
2 (1793) 688. The generic name is not available because 
of the earlier Aristotelia L’ Hérit. (1784) and the specific 
epithet is not tenable on account of the combination Spr- 
ranthes spiralis C. Koch (1849). 
The third name used was EHpidendrum Aristotelia 
Raeuschel Nomencl. Bot., ed. 8 (1797) 265. The status 
of this combination upon which Professor Merrill based 
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