The Cattleyas Vol. 1

THE CATTLEYAS AND THEIR RELATIVES
Volume VI: The South American Encyclia Species

This is the final volume in a landmark treatise in six parts devoted to the genera of the Cattleya alliance, a series whose first volume appeared in 1988. This volume covers the species of Encyclia native to South America, a group of orchids that presents the researcher with many difficulties. The herbarium record is minimal on many of these species, and the original or type specimen may have been destroyed; photographs and even drawing may be lacking. There are formidable problems in identification, distribution, and nomenclature to be resolved, further complicated by the ongoing catastrophic loss of habitat. Carl Withner's extensive field experience, study and research are invaluable assets in brining order to this tangled genus, and providing the foundation for further work.

This volume also includes an appendix of taxonomic and nomenclatural changes affecting species covered in the first five volumes, and a second appendix of changes and additions to the earlier volumes reflecting recent scholarship.

Writing in the American Orchid Society Bulletin, Rebecca Northern said of the first volume: "This is a book for all time. It and the five volumes to follow will form a grand addition to orchid libraries... (a) source of information for years to come." Now that this great work has been completed, her prediction seems to have been amply fulfilled.