ORCHIDACE^ 



mentof the Orchidacese, is made up of twenty-four genera, which, 

 with few exceptions, are difficult to interpret and are separated 

 on characters which must appear trivial to one endeavoring to 

 apply them. In my paper on the JNIt. Halcon orchids, I assigned 

 the present species, not without misgiving, to the genus Has- 

 maria. Undoubtedly close scrutiny of the species which make up 

 the genera allied to Hsemaria will bring about a much broader 

 conception of generic limitations than is now admitted. It would 

 seem that many of the genera in the Physureas were originally 

 based on a few species, and then perpetuated notwithstanding 

 contradictory evidence brought in by later acquisitions. Obsti- 

 nate adherence to the present conception of generic limitations, 

 in my judgment, must lead to perplexity in the case of the Phy- 

 sure£e. Natural affinities, at least, are obscured by the tendency to 

 maintain, as distinct, genera which pass into one another by al- 

 most imperceptible gradations. 



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