Genera Orchidacearum ─ Epidendroideae

For centuries orchids have been among the most popular of plant families, with thousands of species and hybrids cultivated worldwide for the diversity, beauty, and intricacy of their flowers.

The Genera Orchidacearum series represents a robust and natural classification of the orchids, something that has eluded plant scientists and orchid enthusiasts for years. The editors, who are all distinguished orchid specialists, incorporate a wealth of new DNA data into a truly phylogenetic classification, identifying the areas and taxa that merit additional work. To this end, they have invited several international specialists to contribute in their particular areas of expertise. Each volume provides comprehensive coverage of one or two orchid subfamilies, and the series as a whole will be an indispensable reference tool for scientists, orchid breeders, and growers.

Orchidaceae is the largest monocotyledon family and perhaps the largest plant family in terms of number of species, approximately 25,000. Although the fossil record is limited, active molecular research in recent years has unravelled many of the complexities and phylogenetics of this cosmopolitan plant family.

This sixth and final volume treats 140 genera in tribes Dendrobieae and Vandeae of the largest subfamily, Epidendroideae, including some of the showiest orchids often used in hybridizing. Comprehensive treatments are provided for each genus, which include complete nomenclature, description, distribution (with map), anatomy, palynology, cytogenetics, phytochemistry, phylogenetics, pollination, ecology, and economic uses. Cultivation notes are included for those genera known to be in hobbyist collections. Genera are beautifully illustrated with line drawings and colour photographs. An Addendum updates a few generic accounts published in past volumes. A cumulative glossary, list of generic synonyms with their equivalents, and list of all series contributors round out this final volume in the series.

Alec M. Pridgeon, Sainsbury Orchid Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,Phillip J. Cribb, Honorary Research Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,Mark W. Chase, Director of the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,Finn N. Rasmussen, Associate Professor Emeritus, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Botanical Garden and Museum

Alec M. Pridgeon is Sainsbury Orchid Fellow of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and Chairman of the International Orchid Committee. In orchid circles he is perhaps best known as past Editor of the American Orchid Society Bulletin (now titled Orchids) and Founding Editor of the scientific orchid journal, Lindleyana. He has written or co-written 60 scientific articles or book chapters and 100 popular articles, co-written and co-directed five videotapes, edited 12 books including the Proceedings of the 14th World Orchid Conference and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids, and compiled the Orchid Action Plan for the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN in Geneva.

Phillip Cribb is retired as Deputy Keeper of the Herbarium and Curator of the Orchid Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has specialized in the taxonomy of Old World tropical orchids, participating in many expeditions to study orchids in the field. He is the author of several books and over 350 papers on orchids. He has been a member of the Royal Horticultural Society's Orchid Committee for 30 years, an member of the International Orchid Committee, and until 2006 chaired the IUCN/ Species Survival Commission's Orchid Specialist Group, which publishes Orchid Conservation News. He has been awarded the Linnean Society Gold Medal for Botany, the Royal Horticultural Society's Westonbirt Medal and Veitch Memorial Medal, the Orchid Society of South-east Asia's Gold Medal, and the American Orchid Society's Gold Medal of Achievement for his work on orchids.

Mark W. Chase is Director of the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has received the Rolf Dalhgren Prize from by the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund (Sweden) and the Linnean Medal for Botany and the Darwin/Wallace Medal from the Linnean Society of London; he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1995 and Royal Society of London in 2003. He holds an honorary doctorate from the universities of Uppsala (Sweden) and Ghent (Belgium) and is member of the Orchid Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Finn N. Rasmussen is retired Associate Professor and researcher at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and at the Department of Biology, research group for evolutionary botany, University of Copenhagen.