Pat Brennan wrote:
Last Nov I received a CCM for a Zygo mackayi. I just received the bill from
AOS and the plant is listed as Z maculatum. My version of wildcat does not
even show maculatum as a valid Zygopetalum species. Does any one know if
the name on the bill is right (taxonomist at work) or is just a clerical
error?

http://www.ipni.org lists Zygopetalum maculatum (H.B. & K.) Garay
published in Orquideologia, V. 189 (1970), and various websites suggest
that it is the currently accepted name for plants labeled Z. mackayi.
Curiously, ipni.org does not list Z. mackayi, but it does list
Zygopetalum mackaii Hook.. I don't know the story behind that
spelling difference.

It looks as though Z. mackayi was described in 1827, but the plant had
already been described as Dendrobium maculatum in 1816. So, even
though the plant has since been moved from Dendrobium to Zygopetalum,
the "maculatum" epithet has priority. Presumably, Garay's 1970 paper
points that out and established Zygopetalum maculatum (with the new
genus name).


Nick