AucustT, 1916.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 197 
constantly being described an authentically named specimen of each 
should be deposited. Orchids are frequently described from plants 
existing in gardens, and the materials used constitute what is known as the 
“type,” and all specimens subsequently obtained from the same plant 
would have the same value as the original type. If no specimen is 
preserved and the plant subsequently dies the type is lost. Many species 
were described by Reichenbach from materials sent to him for name by 
growers in this country, and the specimens would be dried and placed in 
his Herbarium. In many cases materials from the self-same plant, or 
subdivisions of it, were subsequently preserved at Kew, and these have 
the same value as the original type, and may even be more complete. The 
unfortunate thing is that al/ could not be so preserved. Identical plants 
from the same importation have an almost equal value, though in such 
cases their actual identity may require confirmation. Even an author’s 
own specimens may not always be correct, as witness the case of 
Epidendrum tessellatum alluded to in the following article. 
The utility of a Herbarium is greatly enhanced by a collection of 
drawings, which are generally arranged separately, though analytical 
sketches, and the smaller and less elaborate drawings, are more useful if 
arranged with the specimens themselves; the others can be indicated by a 
system of cross references on the Herbarium sheets, which can, of course, 
be extended to include figures of plants included in published works. And 
the organisation of a Library of suitable books is naturally concerned, but 
respecting this nothing need be said. A Herbarium isa classified collection 
of the world’s flora, which affords a sufficient indication of its importance 
and the interost of its contents. 
e| EPIDENDRUM _LIVIDUM. » | 7 
RARE and curious Epidendrum has just flowered in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, of which Sir Frederick Moore has 
no record of origin. It proves to be E. lividum, a species described by 
Lindley, in 1838 (Bot. Reg., xxiv. Misc. p. 51), being based on a plant 
which flowered with Messrs. Loddiges, and which they had imported from 
Colombia. Its history has since been much confused. Lindley afterwards 
(Fol. Orch., Epidendr. p. 22) enumerated it as a synonym of the Central 
American E. tessellatum, Batem., though a few pages earlier in the same 
work (p. 5), he had placed it in another section, with E. articulatum, Klotzsch, 
as synonymous. The latter was described a few months after E. lividum 
(Allg. Gartenz., 1838, p. 297), being based on a specimen which flowered in 
the Berlin Botanic Garden, which is said to have been sent from La 
