Jumellea sagittata

Oddly enough, Kew sites Hermans as being in agreement with the change of name and in confirmation they cite his joint publication as follows:Cribb, P., Hermans, J. & Rakotoarinivo, M. (2009). Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar: 1-456. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. I also note that Hermans' publication was published by Kew Publishing. When push comes to shove the name accepted by Kew and indeed the AOS as well as all other major societies is "Jumellea arachnantha" despite any other personal opinions. Nomenclature of orchids is difficult enough for the rest of us without complete acceptance of the good with the bad decisions.

 

I suppose it may also be said that your A sagittata could possibly be incorrectly named, however, the alternative you offer carries equal weight. I have an acquaintance that is a member of the Kew nomenclature committee and with the sheer number of committee members, the infrequency of their meetings (annually), and the individual self interests of some of the members, it amazes me that they can agree on the spelling of 'orchid' let alone whether A.sagittata could be a variety of J.arachnantha. The self interest of the various 'botany type' scientists is an important aspect of the nomenclature side of our hobby. Never the less we need some sort of Kew type organisation to make determinations regardless. Occasionally they will be wrong, mostly they will be right, just like the rest of us!