Phalaenopsis regnieriana Wesley Higgins & Peggy Alrich

W hen tracing the taxonomic history of a species , important clues come from various sources : the original description , the type specimen sheet , other specimens of the same species , and other taxonomic treatments . The story of Phalaenopsis regnieriana begins when M . Régnier of Fontenay-sous- Bois , Seine , France sent Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach an orchid specimen from Siam ( Thailand ). Reichenbach described the plant as Phalaenopsis regnieriana Rchb . f . in Gard . Chron ., 1887 ( 2 ): 746 1887 . There are two sheets in Herb . Mus . Palat . Vindob . ( Vienna ) the Reichenbach : Herb . Orchid . Nr . 5027 which contains a colored drawing of the species and Reichenbach ’ s handwritten description with a Phalaenopsis regnieriana label . The sheet is marked “ Typus , typificavit R . E . Holttum ( K ) 1963-01 .” Holttum also annotated the sheet with a determination of Doritis regnieriana ( Rchb . f .) Holttum . Herman R . Sweet also annotated the sheet as Doritis regnieriana . The other sheet Nr . 16064 is labeled Typus by Reichenbach contains the plant specimen . Reichenbach indicated that it was a cultivated plant . To add confusion there is an envelope attached to the sheet labeled Vanda lamellata Lindl . ( Found in envelop with flowers of Phalaenopsis regnieriana Rchb . f .) by Holttum in Jan . 1963 . Again Holttum and Sweet annotated the sheet as Doritis regnieriana . In Rolfe ’ s monograph of the genus ( 1886 ), he established two new sections : Proboscidioides Rolfe containing only the one species , Phalaenopsis lowii , and section Esmeralda Rchb . f . ex

Rolfe accommodating the concepts of Reichenbach , Phalaenopsis esmeralda and Phalaenopsis antennifera . When Rolfe

Color Photo : Supplied by Kenth Esbensen . Visit his wonderful site full of orchid photos : carphunters . com

20 Fourth Quarter , Vol . 22 ( 3 & 4 ) 2012 - Phalaenopsis