The capsules are generally dehiscent, and dehiscence usually occurs
preferentially as a rupture along the midline of each carpel, and
later between the carpels, generating three wide, fertile valves and
three narrow, sterile valves. The six half-carpels remain joined at
the apex in most species, but in some Maxillaria Ruiz & Pavón and
Lockhartia Hooker taxa the carpels separate completely at the apex