CABLE ADDRESS - MUSEUM, CHICAGO 
Field Museum of Natural History 
ROOSEVELT ROAD AND LAKE MICHIGAN 
Chicago 
July 21, 1936. 
Dear Mr. Ames: 
The matter of Epidendrum £astigiatum as used 
by Sesse and Mocino and by Ruiz and Pavon sounds rather 
curious. So far as I have examined the former collection, 
there is nothing to indicate any alien elements in it, 
except for a very few West Indian plants, labeled in a quite 
different hand—probably there were none among the orchids. 
I haven’t yet determined where these are from, or their 
collector, but they have the appearance of being type 
material, perhaps from Swartz, or possibly from some French 
botanist. " I know of no confusion regarding Sesse and 
Mocino plants. However, there are in London, perhaps also 
elsewhere, a goo$ many specimens labeled as collected 
in Mexico by Pavon. He was never in Mexico, and it is 
known or believed that the specimens so labeled were col¬ 
lected by Nee. Material in the old herbarium at Madrid 
is often ambiguously labeled, if one may judge from a large 
lot of duplicates that we received recently from there. 
The Sesse and Mocino Herbarium has always been kept in¬ 
tact, until the present, except for a few hundred speci¬ 
mens take from the old general herbarium and so labeled. 
The additional specimens are very few. I expect to 
have them ready for you soon. In fact, they are mounted, 
but I haven't had time to sort the specimens into families. 
Please retain the specimens you have until I can supply a 
sample for the treatment to be used in reporting upon the 
herbarium. I have been so very busy lately that_I haven’t 
been able to prepare such a sample, and the specimens 
were available only a few days ago. 
Some tigie ago Macbride was instructed to photograph 
all the Sesse and Mocino drawings at Geneva, but I don’t 
know how much he has accomplished. It would be well 
if you would write him directly about the orchids, which 
perhaps he could photograph soon. 
Sincerely yours,, ^ 
Cs ViJu'*-'*• * 
It is believed that the Sesse and Mocino difewings 
are still in existence in Spain, but it is not known where 
they are. If they have not been destroyed, they are under 
private ownership. 
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TO FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, CHICAGO, U. S. A. 
