Literature and herbarium studies of various orchid taxa that occur in the New World leads to the recognition of four new species, epitypification, lectotypification, and synonymisation of some neglected names, and the transfer of three names. Furthermore, reviews are presented on the synonymy and identity of the red-orange flowered Fernandezia species in Colombia and Venezuela, and the circumscription of Odontorrhynchus chilensis in Chile. The new species proposed are Aspidogyne jussariensis, Liparis vasquezii, L. yanachagae, and Microchilus tunquianus ; new combinations are Bulbophyllum pinelianum, Maxillaria humilis, and Microstylis section Chrysanthera; new lectotypifications and synonymy are Epidendrum acinacifolium (= Tolumnia variegata), E. calcaratum (= Ionopsis utricularioides), E. minimum (= Polystachya foliosa), and E. obtusifolium (= E. nocturnum); Polystachya extinctoria (= P. concreta) is neotypified; new synonyms are Centropetalum lanceolatum (= Fernandezia sanguinea), Fernandezia aurantiaca, F. ortiziana (both = F. myrtillus), Fernandezia tica (= F. sanguinea), Gomesa stricta (= Pleurothallis quadrifida), Nasonia hartwegii (= Fernandezia myrtillus), Odontorrhynchus domeykoanus, O. erosus, O. variabilis (all = O. chilensis), and Pachyphyllum favosifolium (= Fernandezia sanguinea).