Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Ghost Orchid


You may have heard of the Ghost Orchid, Polyrrhiza lindenii, in the book, "The Orchid Thief." Well, this isn't it. Rather, this is its Cuban cousin, Polyradicion sallei. Oh, and Polyrrhiza was moved to Dendrophylax and then Garay moved it to Polyradicion. So, Polyrrihiza lindenii is now Polyradicion lindenii (named after Linden, go figure). Botanists are always moving things around but I suppose that is how they make their living and their reputation. The latest round of mass moves was in response to genetic testing that showed that much of the old classifications based on morphology were, well, just plain wrong. Go figure.

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