revista de divulgación
Defining Generic Limits in Maxillaria. A Return to the Orchidaceous Mine
Fecha
2011Autor
Blanco Coto, Mario Alberto
Institución
Resumen
If one goes orchid hunting in
the forests of Central or South America,
odds are that one of the first orchids you
will encounter will be a Maxillaria or one
of its close relatives. Maxillarias comprise
a large percentage of the Neotropical orchid
flora, as well as being relatively common.
However, putting a name on these plants
has vexed botanists for centuries. The
flowers are often not showy, and tend to be
relatively monotonous in form. The most
recent volume of Genera Orchidacearum,
Volume 5, Part 2 (Pridgeon et al. 2009),
and the World Checklist of Selected Plant
Families utilize a major new reclassification of Maxillaria and relatives.