THE PHILIPPINE 
Journal of Science 
C. Botany 
Vol. IV NOVEMBER, 1909 No. 5 
NOTES ON PHILIPPINE ORCHIDS WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF 
NEW SPECIES, I * 
By Oakes Ames. 
(From the Ames Botanical Laboratory , North Easton, Mass., V. 13. A.) 
It has been suggested by Dr. Fritz Kranzlin that the species of Den- 
drochilum which I have assigned to the section Acoridium ought to 
constitute a distinct genus. Dr. Kranzlin asserts that the form of the 
labellum is quite distinctive in Acoridium on account of its likeness to 
the letter E. When I studied Dendrocliilum tenellum in the preparation 
of Fascicle I of “Orchidaceae” I felt strongly that it belonged to a genus 
entirely distinct from Dendrocliilum because of the absence of stelidia 
from the column and of the peculiar subfdiform leaves. Since then I 
have been convinced by a study of more material that Acoridium belongs 
to Dendrocliilum. In the first place, the E-formed labellum on which 
Dr. Kranzlin lays emphasis is only characteristic of a majority of the 
species of the section Acoridium and is not found in D. turpe, D. oligan- 
thura, D. hastatum, D. Merrillii and D. ocellatum, which clearly belong 
to the section. In the second place the lack of stelidia in the species of 
§ Acoridium is not a wholly satisfactory differentiating character between 
it and § Platyclinis. It is not satisfactory because the lack of stelidia 
expresses a condition which is approached by well-defined species of Den- 
drochilum such as D. palawanense and because D. Merrillii in which the 
stelidia are absent from the column is in every other respect a well-marked 
species of Dendrocliilum § Platyclinis. Furthermore, there is no habital 
distinction by which to separate the species of Acoridium from Den- 
drochilum. The linear leaf characteristic of D. tenellum , D. sphacelation 
* Proof corrected by E. D. Merrill and C. B. Robinson. 
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