December 2000 North American Native Orchid Journal

NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE ORCHID JOURNAL

_____________________________________
Volume 6 December
Number 4 2000
a quarterly devoted to the orchids of North America

published by the
NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE ORCHID ALLIANCE
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
IN THIS ISSUE:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 5th ANNUAL NORTH
AMERICAN NATIVE ORCHID CONFERENCE: Part 2.
NEW NAMES FOR FLORIDA EPIDENDRUMS
THE SACOILA SAGA CONTINUES
RARE, THREATENED AND ENDANGERED
ORCHIDS IN NORTH AMERICA - Part 4…and more!
1
NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE
ORCHID JOURNAL
(ISSN 1084-7332)
published quarterly in
March June September December
by the
NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE ORCHID ALLIANCE
a group dedicated to the conservation and promotion of our
native orchids
Editor:
Paul Martin Brown
Assistant Editor: Nathaniel E. Conard
Editorial & Production Assistants:
Philip E. Keenan
Stan Folsom
Nancy Webb
The Journal welcomes articles, of any length, of both a scientific

and general interest nature relating to the orchids of North
America. Scientific articles should conform to guidelines such as
those in Lindleyana or Rhodora. General interest articles and notes
may be more informal. Authors may include line drawings
and/or black and white photographs. Color inserts may be
arranged. Please send all inquiries or material for publication to
the Editor at PO Box 772121, Ocala, FL 34477-2121 (late May -
early Oct. Box 759, Acton, ME 04001-0759).
2000 Membership in the North American Native Orchid Alliance,

which includes a subscription to the Journal, is $26 per year in the
United States, $29US in Canada and $32US other foreign
countries. Payment should be sent to Nancy A. Webb, 84 Etna
St., Brighton, MA 02135-2830. Claims for lost issues or canceled
memberships should be made to the editorial office within 30
days.
2
NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE
ORCHID JOURNAL
Volume 6 December
Number 4 2000
CONTENTS
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
249
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 5th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE
ORCHID CONFERENCE Part 2
POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN PRAIRIE
FRINGED ORCHID: A Manitoba Research Project
Lorne Heshka
251
THE GENUS HEXALECTRIS
IN THE UNITED STATES
Joe Liggio
262
SPIRANTHES PARKSII –
NAVASOTA LADIES’-TRESSES
Cliff Pelchat
268
THE NORTHEASTERN MEMBERS OF THE
PLATANTHERA HYPERBOREA COMPLEX
(ORCHIDACEAE).
Charles J. Sheviak
280
SPECIES PAIRS
Paul Martin Brown
287
th
6 North American Native Orchid Conference
299
NEW NAMES FOR FLORIDA EPIDENDRUMS
Eric Hágsater
300
3
RARE, THREATENED AND ENDANGERED
ORCHIDS IN NORTH AMERICA - Part 4
Anne B. Wagner, Ken Wagner & Paul Martin Brown
311
FRIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES
The Slow Empiricist
321
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO VOLUME 6
329
Stanley N. Folsom
330
RECENT TAXONOMIC AND DISTRIBUTIONAL
NOTES FROM FLORIDA 8.
Paul Martin Brown
333
A NEW COMBINATION IN POGONIA
Paul Martin Brown
339
Book Review:
Native Orchids of the Southern Appalachian Mountains
340
Flora of North America Volume 26
341
7th North American Native Orchid Conference
May 2002
343
Unless otherwise credited, all drawings in this issue are by Stan Folsom
Color Plates:
Plate 1, page 345 Sheviak: Platanthera hyperborea complex
Plate 2, page 346 Pelchat: Spiranthes parksii etc.
Plate 3, page 347 Pelchat: Spiranthes parksii etc.
Plate 4, page 348 Pogonia ophioglossoides forma brachypogon; Sacoila squamulosa;
Tipularia discolor forma viridifolia
The opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the authors. Scientific
articles may be subject to peer review and popular articles will be examined for
both accuracy and scientific content.
Volume 6, number 4, pages 249-348; issued December 20, 2000.
Copyright 2000 by the North American Native Orchid Alliance, Inc.
Cover: Vanilla dilloniana by Stan Folsom
4
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
This final issue of 2000 contains a wide variety of

articles including the conclusion to the series on Rare,
Threatened and Endangered Orchids and the second
section of proceedings from this past summers'
conference. Two articles from the proceedings were not
given at the conference, although they were scheduled.
Those are the ones by Sheviak and by Brown. Take
special note of the notices concerning both the 2001
and 2002 conferences, as well as the publication of
several new books.
We will start off 2001 in March with an issue

devoted to the orchids of south Florida by Roger
Hammer. Roger's many years in the swamps and
prairies of that region assures us of both an interesting
and informative issue. We are still soliciting articles for
the rest of the year, so please keep sending them in.
Several new books on the orchids of North

America are due for publication in 2001/early 2002.
These include Ron Coleman's Wild Orchids of Arizona and
New Mexixo, Carl Munden's Orchids of Nova Scotia, and
our field guide, Wild Orchids of Florida. All are works for
areas that have not had recent publications and never in
249
book format. The Journal will keep you notified of
publication dates and ordering information.
Work continues on the Volume 26 of the

Orchidales of the Flora of North America. As soon as
there is a publication date the Journal will have full
ordering information.
Paul Martin Brown, editor

PO Box 772121, Ocala, FL 34477
352-861-2565
mid-May - late September:

PO Box 759
Acton, ME 04001
207-636-3719
e-mail:naorchid@aol.com
250
Heshka: POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN PRAIRIE FRINGED
ORCHID
POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN PRAIRIE

FRINGED ORCHID:
A MANITOBA RESEARCH PROJECT
Lorne Heshka
The western prairie fringed orchid, Platanthera

praeclara, is found in a small portion of the tall grass
prairie in southeastern Manitoba a few miles from the
US border east of Provincial highway #59. In Manitoba
and in Canada, this is the only location in which this
orchid is found although it does occur in a number of
states directly to the south of Manitoba. This orchid has
been placed on the “endangered” species list in Canada.
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Red

River Valley was a vast sea of tall-grass prairie, a
complex ecosystem of grasses, flowers and wildlife. As
the most productive type of prairie in North America it
was soon transformed by settlers into a thriving
agricultural community. In 1987, the Manitoba
Naturalists Society, in their search for remnants of the
tall-grass prairie, found the largest tracts near the towns
of Gardenton and Tolstoi in southeastern Manitoba. In
1989, the Critical Wildlife Habitat Program, a
cooperative program involving seven conservation
organizations, began securing land in this area for a
prairie preserve. Over 2000 hectares of tall-grass prairie
are now protected within this Preserve.
251
ORCHID
A tall-grass prairie meadow interspersed with

poplar bluffs is the typical habitat of the western
prairie fringed orchid in Manitoba. This orchid has
been observed in 61 quarter sections in and adjacent to
the preserve. Several areas of the preserve have a
reasonably dense population. The count in one
particular meadow in 1999 was 700 blooming plants.
Counts from year to year are highly variable and this
same meadow in 1998 had very few blooming plants.
Total counts for the entire region of the 61 quarter
sections were at a low of 1,818 flowering plants in 1995
to a high of 21,000 plants in 1996.
There is considerable variation in the plants

within this population. In ideal habitat the plants will
grow to nearly a meter with up to 30 blossoms on an
inflorescence. Some plants have a full fringed lip while
others have a noticeably smaller lip with a sparse fringe.
The blossom has a long spur, is white and
fragrant at night. Considering the length of the spur, the
position of the pollinia in relation to the spur opening,
and the fact that the flower is white and fragrant at
night leads to an assumption that this flower would be
pollinated by a night flying insect with sufficient tongue
length to reach the nectar at the base of the spur.
Those who attended the 1998 NANOA

Conference held at Itasca State Park, Minnesota, will
recall our field trip to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in
Southern Manitoba. During that field trip, we were
252
ORCHID
advised of a research project just underway, to

determine the pollinators of the western prairie
fringed orchid in this area.
This project is being carried out under the

direction of Dr. Richard Westwood of the University of
Winnipeg. Dr. Westwood was unable to attend this
conference and has provided me with his slides in order
to provide an update of this project since the 1998
NANOA Conference. Dr. Westwood’s e-mail address is
r.westwood@uwinnipeg.ca should anyone have
questions or require further information.
In 1994, prior to this study, approximately 290

plants were tagged in an effort to obtain data on specific
plants over a number of years. The data gathered from
these tagged plants revealed:
a) The portion of dormant plants increased in
number each year until by 1999 only 2 plants
produced blossoms.
b) seed pod production ranged from 10% to 25%,
in 1999 the 2 surviving plants both produced
seed pods
In designing the research project the following factors

were considered:
- pollination by insects is required but in
Manitoba, pollinators and mechanisms were
unknown
- U.S. research in southern part of the range
indicated sphinx moths were responsible for
pollination
253
ORCHID
- In Manitoba populations seed set was found

to be low and this project was established to
study the relationship between the orchid and
its pollinators
Methods used in this study include:

- visual observations in 1997 &1998
- cone traps were used in 1997, 98 & 99
- malaise traps used in 1997, 98 & 99
- light traps used in study area 1998 & 1999
- in 1999 U.V. dayglow powder was used on
blossoms
Visual observations – visual observation was used to

attempt to determine any possible pollinators during
daylight hours. No pollinators were observed.
Cone traps – these traps are placed directly over the

flowering plant. Insects are attracted to the blossoms
and on contacting the sides of the cone, they fly
upwards through the opening of the cone are collected
in the trap.
Malaise traps - this trap is designed in an H pattern. The

trap is set up in an area where flowering plants are
located on either side of the central barrier. As the
insects contact the central vertical barrier, they fly
upwards and are collected in the bottle at the top of the
trap.
Light traps - until now, these light traps were used to

collect population information on night flying insects in
254
ORCHID
the region and have been used only where an electrical

source is available. This year a portable power source
will be provided and the light will be used to attract
insects to the areas where malaise or cone traps are
used. The lights will be used intermittently and it is
hoped that insects attracted to the area will remain.
Day-glow powder – this powder fluoresces under a UV

light source. The powder is applied to the blossoms of
plants adjacent to the cone and malaise traps.
Specifically the powder is placed on the blossom around
the spur opening. Insects visiting the flowers picks up
the day-glow powder and provides a means of
identifying insects caught in traps as having visited the
flowers.
Insects collected from Powder trials
Diptera
Mosquitoes 55
Crane flies 26
House and Stable flies etc 873
Horse and Deer flies etc 4450
Gnats, Midges, etc. 24
Coleoptera
Weevils 2
Fireflies 12
June beetles 5
Ground beetles 8
Click beetles 2
255
ORCHID
Flower beetles 1
Lepidotera
Skippers 10
Anglewings 5
Browns 2
Loopers 18
Micros 74
Cutworms 34
Tent caterpillars 15
Snouth moths 8
Hymenoptera
Wasps 3
Leaf cutters and Honeybees 13
Parasitic wasps 137
Sweat bees 5
Bumble bees 6
Sawflies 3
Others
Leafhoppers 18
Plant bugs 2
Mayflies 2
Stoneflies 1
Caddis flies 6
Lace wings 5
Grasshoppers 2
Scorpion flies 2
Mantisipids 2
Dragon flies 3
256
ORCHID
Insects collected with powder -

Traces of powder were found on the wing tips or
wing covers of:
! mosquitoes 2
! stable flies 8
! dance flies 1
! fruit flies 1
! sweat bee 1
! fire fly 1
! Hyles galli sphinx moth 1
As you can see several insects did show evidence

of day-glow powder indicating their association
with the flowers.
Counts of moths with pollinia and/or powder -
1997 1998 1999

Sphinx
drupifrearum
(Wild Cherry Malais Jul 11 Jul13 None
Sphinx) e trap
Cone none Jul11 None
trap
Powde n.a. n.a. none
r 1999
257
ORCHID
Hyles galli
(Galium Sphinx) Malais none none None
e trap
Cone Jul 11 none Jul 06
trap
Powde n.a. n.a. Jul 06
r 1999
Apart from the Galium moth, none of the insects

collected that had contacted the day-glow powder had
pollinia attached.
Number of species of macro moths collected in

light traps
! Cutworms 60
! Tent caterpillars 5
! Tussock moths 3
! Notodontid moths 17
! Arctic moths 17
! Sphinx moths 14
! Loopers 40
! Silk moths 3
! Ctenucha moths 2
Sphinx moth total catches 1997-1999
1997 1998 1999

Sphinx drupiferium 1 2 0
Pachyspinx modesta 0 9 3
258
ORCHID
Ceratomia undulosa 0 1
tba
Sphinx kalimae 2 0
tba
Sphinx lucitiosa 0 1 tba
Smerinthus jamaicensis 0 25 14
Smerinthus cerisyl 0 12 1
Poanes excaecatus 0 11
tba
Poanes myops 0 7
tba
Cressonia juglandis 0 4 tba
Drapsa myron 3
tba
Hemaris thysybe 3 4 2
Hemaris diffinis 6 4 5
5 4 3
Hyles galli
Several species were collected in fairly high numbers,

however, please note in particular the Wild Cherry
Sphinx Moth (Sphinx drupiferium) and the Galium Moth
(Hyles galli) species.
Sphinx moth flight period
1997 1998 1999
259
ORCHID
July 2 July 4 July 7

Peak Flowering
na June 19-20 June23-July 19
Flowering range
Sphinx drupiferium July 1 July 13-20 n.a.

Pachyspinx modesta n.a June 11-17 June 9-17
Ceratomia undulosa n.a. June 17
Tba
Sphinx kalimae n.a. June 18
Tba
Sphinx lucitiosa n.a July 7 June 18
Smerinthus n.a. May2–July 18 June 9–July 7
jamaicensis
Smerinthus cerisyl n.a. May20– July7 Tba
Poanes excaecatus n.a. Jun11-July15
Tba
Poanes myops n.a. Jun 9–July 3
Tba
Cressonia juglandis n.a. Jun17–Jun 25 Tba
Drapsa myron n.a. May17–July 7
Tba
Hemaris thysybe Jun5– Jun 8–July15 tba
July 1
Hemaris diffinis Jun10 May31–July 5 tba
-Jul 1
Hyles galli Jul8 – May27–Jul 26 tba
Jul 31
260
ORCHID
Again note flight periods for Wild Cherry Sphinx and

Galium moths.
Conclusions
- two species of sphinx moth have been

identified as pollinators
- no other insect group or even other moths
have been indicated as pollinators
- the Wild Cherry sphinx is uncommon in
Manitoba, the galium sphinx is more common
but populations fluctuate.
- breeding habitat and inadequate overlap of
the moth flight periods with the orchid
blooming may be limiting factors
- further population and life cycle studies must
be carried out on at least these two species of
moths.
Lorne G. Heshka, 1204 de Graff Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba

R2G 1Y8 Canada lheshka@escape.ca
261
Heshka:THE
Liggio: POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN
GENUS HEXALECTRIS IN THE PRAIRIE
UNITED FRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
THE GENUS HEXALECTRIS IN THE

UNITED STATES
Joe Liggio
The genus Hexalectris consists of seven species of

mycotrophic orchids found primarily in the mountains
of Mexico and the southwestern United States. Five
species grow in the United States, with one species,
Hexalectris spicata, ranging widely from the eastern
United States to Arizona and northern Mexico.
The crested coral root, Hexalectris spicata/a,

thrives in leaf mold in the deep shade of hardwoods and
conifers on well-drained knolls and stream banks, and
has been found growing on rotting logs. Donovan
Correll (1950) considered H. spicata to be " by far the
most attractive saprophytic orchid in our region." This
widespread and uncommon orchid is most frequent on
wooded limestone hillsides and canyon slopes in
juniper-oak woodlands of the Edwards Plateau of
central Texas. Although known to prefer limestone
soils, it sometimes grows in mineral-rich, slightly acidic
soil in the Pineywoods Region of eastern Texas. Here it
sometimes grows in rich beech-hardwood forests.
262
Heshka:
Liggio:POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN
THE GENUS HEXALECTRIS PRAIRIE
IN THE UNITEDFRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
Hexalectris spicata var. arizonica, a new variety of

Hexalectris spicata was recently described in Lindleyana,
the scientific journal of the American Orchid Society
(Carling & Engel 1993). This rare variety, much less
attractive than H. spicata var. spicata, has smaller pale
creamy yellow to pinkish flowers that almost never
open fully. The creamy yellow to pinkish petals and
sepals, striped with purple, converge at their tips to
form the somewhat closed flower. Flowers of this
variety lack a rostellum, a structure on the column that
separates the anther from the stigma and prevents self-
pollination in cross-pollinating orchids. It is
cleistogamous, which literally means self-pollinating
with closed flowers. The vast majority of plants of this
variety have closed flowers, but some plants with open
flowers occasionally occur. This new variety was
discovered in an oak-juniper woodland in southwestern
Dallas County by Dale Williams and Victor Engel in
1982. Williams and Engel had observed this confusing
variety of Hexalectris spicata for several years and
considered it a hybrid between H. spicata and H. nitida.
This odd Hexalectris orchid also attracted the attention
of Canadian orchidologist Paul Carling, who determined
there was insufficient evidence of pollen or seed sterility
to indicate hybridization. Therefore, Carling proposed
the varietal rank, Hexalectris spicata var. arizonica, for this
closed flowered orchid.
263
Heshka:THE
UNITED FRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
Hexalectris nitida, the Glass Mountain coral root,

was once believed to be restricted to the Texas Trans-
Pecos, where it is found in moist canyons and on north
facing slopes in oak-juniper-pinyon pine woodlands.
Here, it thrives on leaf litter in the shade of oaks
(Quercus spp.), madrones (Arbutus xalapensis ) and big
tooth maple (Acer grandidentatum). In 1975, it was
discovered in Abilene State Park on the Callahan
Divide, a northern extension of the Edwards Plateau.
Since that time, it has been found in several other
locations on the Edwards Plateau, where it favors
juniper-oak woodlands and is often associated with
mature Ashe junipers (Juniperus ashei. In this region and
in the Trans-Pecos it sometimes grows near the Texas
purple spike orchid, H. warnockii. Most of the H. nitida
orchids that grow on the Edwards Plateau appear to be
self-pollinating,or cleistogamous, and only occasionally
display open flowers. Its pollinator is perhaps scarce or
entirely absent on the Edwards Plateau. If this is the
case, self-pollination offers a significant advantage
(Catling and Catling 1991).
Hexalectris grandiflora, giant coralroot, is

apparently restricted to the Texas Trans-Pecos where it
thrives in the oak-juniper-pinyon pine woodlands in July
and August after the summer rains begin. It is found
mainly in the Davis Mountains where it is rather
common. Although it is reported from the Chisos
Mountains in Big Bend National Park, it is extremely
rare. Hexalectris grandiflora favors humus-rich soil of
moist canyons, especially in the shade of oak (Quercus
264
Heshka:THE
UNITED FRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
spp.) and Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) in Texas,

and bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) and basswood
(Tilia floridana) trees in northern Mexico.
The curly coral root, Hexalectris revoluta, is
saprophytic, living on decayed matter in moist and dry
oak-juniper-pinyon pine woodlands of rocky streams
and canyons. Although it usually blooms in June and
July, it sometimes blooms as early as May when spring
rains are abundant. In the Chisos Mountains, it sprouts
in the rich humus under oak trees, which are often
Graves’s oaks (Quercus gravesii). In the Glass Mountains,
it grows along side H. nitida in shady spots under
lechuguffia (Agave lechuguilla) and shinnery oaks (Quercus
havardit) on sunny slopes and ridges (wamock 1977).
Hexalectris revoluta is very similar in appearance and no
doubt closely related to H. spicata. Ronald Coleman
(1999) has reported H. revoluta from Pima County, and
possibly Cochise County, Arizona. Apparently first
discovered in 1981, but misidentified as H. spicata for
nearly 20 years.
Hexalectris warnockii is the most frequent and

widespread Hexalectris in the Chisos Mountains of Big
Bend National Park (Luer 1975), appearing every year
when there is enough rainfall. It also grows in other
mountains of Trans-Pecos Texas and is fairly
widespread in the Edwards Plateau. It has been found
as far north as the Callahan Divide south of Abilene and
the White Rock (Austin Chalk) Escarpment south of
Dallas. In the mountains of Trans-Pecos Texas, H.
warnockii is found on shaded slopes and dry rocky creek
265
Heshka:THE
UNITED FRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
beds. It grows in leaf mulch under oak, madrone, and

pinyon pine in oak-juniper-pinyon pine woodlands. In
the Edwards Plateau, it favors rocky limestone soils
covered with leaf mulch in juniper-oak woodlands.
Members of this genus are often associated with
other plant species and have been reported to be firmly
attached to the roots of trees (Correll 1950, Rasmussen
1995). While orchidologists debate whether
mycotrophic orchids are parasitic on their mycorrhizal
fungi, there may be an even more sinister side to these
so called saprophytic orchids. It appears likely that their
mycorrhiza may subsist on other living vascular plants
either as a symbiot or as a parasite. Other species of
mycotrophic orchids, such as Corallorhiza maculata are
associated with Armillaria mellea, a virulent tree parasite
(Rasmussen1995).
Literature Cited
Coleman. R. A. 1999 Hexalectris revoluta in Arizona,
North American Native Orchid Journal 5(4): 312-316.
Correll, Donovan Stewart. 1950 Native Orchids of North
America. Waltham, Mass: Chronica Botanica.
Luer, Carlyle A. 1975. The Native Orchids of The United
States and Canada. New York Botanical Garden,
Bronx, New York.
Rasmussen, H. N. 1995. Terrestrial Orchids: From Seed to
Mycotrophic Plant. Cambridge University Press.
Joe Liggio, 623 Woodland, Houston, TX 77009 JOE

LIGGIO@HOTMAIL.COM
266
Heshka:
Liggio:POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN
THE GENUS HEXALECTRIS PRAIRIE
IN THE UNITEDFRINGED
STATES
ORCHID
267
Pelchat: SPIRANTHES PARKSII CORRELL – NAVASOTA LADIES’-
TRESSES
SPIRANTHES PARKSII CORRELL –

NAVASOTA LADIES’-TRESSES
Cliff Pelchat
Spiranthes parksii, the Navasota ladies’-tresses,

is the only endemic orchid that Texas can claim and it
has had an elusive history since its discovery in 1945,
and was first described by Donovan Stewart Correll,
(Correll 1947). In his 1950 book, Native Orchids of
North America North of Mexico, Correll states that it
was discovered in Texas in 1945 and that it had no close
allies in North American orchid flora; "This species has no
close allies in our flora. Its affinity seems to be with several
Mexican and Central American species. It apparently occurs in
moist habitat, and blooms in October." (Correll 1950) The
specimens Correll used to describe the Navasota
ladies’-tresses were collected by Haliburton Braley
Parks along the Navasota River (Democratic Bridge) in
Brazos County, (Correll 1947). For the next 30 years
H. B. Parks was the only person to have seen a live
specimen of this plant. Many of the herbarium
specimens deposited by H. B. Parks contain short non-
specific descriptions for location (such as “Democratic
Bridge”), which certainly contributed to the difficulty of
locating existing populations of S. parksii. Carlyle Luer
268
TRESSES
along with Correll searched for the plants on 2 different

occasions without finding them leading him to speculate
on their origin; "The writer has thoroughly searched the type
locality, along the Navasota River in eastern Texas, in two
different years, once with Dr. Correll, but without success.
Within a radius of a few miles, three familiar species of
Spiranthes were discovered in flower: S. cernua, S. ovalis, and the
robust Texan S. lacera var. gracilis . . .It is considered unlikely
that a southern relict might survive in the western part of the
Coastal Plain and the Eastern Woodland where no other
localized endemic species of orchid is known to occur. However,
endemic species of other plants are not infrequent. Very possibly
Spiranthes parksii represents an aberrant or polyploid form of var.
gracilis, or a non-persisting hybrid of var. gracilis and S. cernua."
(Luer 1975) Nevertheless, S. parksii Correll was listed as
endemic to Brazos County, Texas, (Correll 1950) and
(Correll & Johnston 1970). In 1975 it was listed as an
Endangered and Threatened Orchid of the United
States, (Ayensu 1975). And, in 1982, it was listed as
federally endangered (MacRoberts & MacRoberts 1997).
Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s it has had a tendency
to become newsworthy such as when it stopped the
expansionof Texas highway 6 in 1983, (Liggio 1999), or
when it became the focus of a conservation effort in
1990 that involved the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, when 500
plants were reproduced for planting back into the wild,
(Houston Chronicle 1990).
269
TRESSES
Rediscovery
On October 25th, 1978 the Navasota ladies'-
tresses was rediscovered in Brazos county by Paul
Catling and K. L. McIntosh in a Post Oak woodland
northwest of the town of Navasota (Catling and
McIntosh 1979). They located 7 plants along the banks
of a temporary stream surrounded by scattered oaks
(post oak, Quercas stellata and blackjack oak, Quercas
marilandica) along with American beauty berry, Callicarpa
americana. Another site with 13 plants was also
discovered close by in an open oak woodland on the
banks of another temporary stream. They reported that
Spiranthes parksii occurred both on the tops of banks in
open sand with a sparse cover of grass and on the sides
of banks in the shade of tress and thickets. Since that
time it has been documented in Lee, Leon, Freestone,
Grimes, Burleson, Madison, Robertson, Fayette,
Washington and Jasper counties, (Liggio 1999) and
(Bridges and Orzell 1989). The Jasper county site
represents a small disjunct population within the Piney
Woods of Angelina County National Forest in East
Texas 170 kilometers east of all other known
populations. Recent surveys of the Jasper County Black
Branch Barrens area of the Angelina National Forest
have resulted in finding a few other plants (MacRoberts
& MacRoberts 1997).
Range/Habitat
Spiranthes parksii, with the exception noted above
for Jasper County, inhabits the Post Oak Savannah
270
TRESSES
region of East Texas. The Post Oak Savannah is a

region located northwest and west of Houston and
occupies a space between the Blackland Prairies to the
west and the Piney Woods to the east. To the south the
Post Oak Savannah tapers out and mixes with the
Blackland Prairies habitat, (Figure 11). This unique
habitat is made up of an area of about 8,500,000 acres
of gently rolling hills with elevations from 65 to 300
meters above sea level. It receives about 75 to 115 cm
of rainfall annually with the peak rainfall occurring
during the months of May or June. Vegetatively it
consists of open fields dominated by tall grasses and
spots of woodlands that are comprised mostly of post
oak, Quercus stellata and blackjack oak. Quercus marilandica.
Soils consist of acid loamy sands in the upland areas to
acid loamy sands and clays in the bottomland areas.
(Correll & Johnston, 1970) The area was extensively
cultivated for grains, vegetables and fruit trees up
through the 1940’s. (Wilson, unpublished) This
cultivation may explain the rarity of S. parksii and the
disjunctive nature of some of the populations.
Within this range Spiranthes parksii is found

mostly along drainage areas that represent naturally
disturbed areas through the post oak woodlands leading
to the Navasota River and is rarely if ever found in
unnaturally disturbed areas such as roadsides, power-
line right of ways or open fields (Wilson, unpublished).
When I first began searching for this plant I looked in
1 See Color Plates 2 & 3, pages 345-347.
271
TRESSES
the open grassy areas near woods and along drainages

areas [outside of woods] as described by others and as
noted on herbarium sheets, e.g. Texas International
Speedway. Though I found some plants, mostly at the
beginning of drainage areas from the grassy fields
leading into woodlands and adjacent to the edge of
woods along hiking trails the most plants were found
within the woods on the banks of the natural drainage
ditches. This observation confirms that Spiranthes parksii
does not typically inhabit open areas or areas disturbed
by man. Today S. parksii is well documented growing in
the Navasota region and one especially good and
accessible (because it is not private property) location is
Lick Creek Park located in College Station. I have
observed it growing in this park along the banks of
drainage streams and at the mouth of these drainage
areas leading from the open grassy areas of the Post
Oak Savannah. I have also observed it growing on the
margins of the wooded forest near drainage ditches
where hiking trails have been formed. This habitat lies
in close proximity to Texas A & M University and Dr.
Hugh Wilson, from the University, undertook a detailed
study of S. parksii. Unfortunately this study was
brought to an abrupt halt by the expansion of a
recreational bike path.
Morphology
The genus Spiranthes is highly variable from the
morphological point of view and, at times, it is difficult
272
TRESSES
to differentiate between species in the field. The

problem of field identification is compounded for the
species S. parksii because it blooms at the same time and
in the same range as two other species, S. cernua (L.)
L.C. Richard and S. lacera Raf. var. gracilis (Bigel.) Luer,
and is found in similar habitat as S. cernua mixed in with
blooming populations. However, once one establishes a
pattern of identification there is no mistaking S. parksii
for either S. cernua or S. lacera var. gracilis, though there
are some plants that seem to be intermediate between S.
parksii and S. cernua and these are not easily resolved in
the field. While photographing these plants with a
105mm macro lens many of the characters described by
Correll (Correll 1947 and 1950) are apparent. The line
drawing by G. Dillon that accompanies Correll’s
description is extremely accurate, and looks as if it was
drawn form a live specimen rather then an herbarium
sheet.
The plants I have observed are from 21 cm to 25

cm tall with the flowers taking up the top 7 cm - 8 cm
of the spike (Fig. 2). They are in 4 ranked coils of 14 to
30 flowers that spiral counterclockwise looking down
on the top of the plant. The plants tend to have the
flowers concentrated more at the top of the rachis
twisting, generally, in a CCW direction forming 4 ranks
giving the rachis a symmetrical appearance. In contrast
S. lacera var. gracilis tends to have a single rank forming a
long spiral to the top for most of the length of the
rachis. There are no leaves present at anthesis, but I
have observed the leaves of plants in the springtime and
273
TRESSES
they form basal rosettes of 2 to 3 lance like elliptic

shaped leaves (Fig. 7). It should be noted that I find the
number, size and dimensions of leaves for Spiranthes
spp. to be quite variable depending on the time of year
observed, the amount of moisture present and
apparently the amount of nutrients in the soil. Plants of
S. vernalis grown in pots and fed high nitrogen fertilizer
have produced over 8 large grass like leaves along with
one large bract like leaf on the spike that have sustained
through anthesis compared to the 4 to 5 often observed
in the field. These observations suggest that
identification of S. parksii based on vegetative
characteristics of the rosettes is highly unlikely unless
the plants were specifically marked while in bloom.
The flowers and most of the rachis are covered in

a fine pubescence, the apex of which is tipped with a
ball or club. The same pubescence is found on S. cernua
but S. lacera var. gracilis is essentially glabrous. The
characteristically obovate petals, (Correll 1947), are also
easily seen in the field through the lens of the camera or
with a 10x loupe. The lip is presented in such away that
the apex has a cleft and the center leading inward to the
column is padded on each side and creamy yellow in
color, (this coloring is also described by Catling &
McIntosh 1979). The margins of the lip are ragged and
tooth like or in botanical terms dentate compared to the
crenulate (scalloped or round toothed) and undulate
(wavy) appearance of S. cernua. Small pubescent hairs
can be observed in the throat of the corolla formed by
the lip, dorsal sepal and petals, (Figure 3). The
274
TRESSES
distinctive oval shape of the petals (Correll 1947) can be

seen, in the field, under close observation with a loupe
or through the lens of a camera. The floral bract is
white tipped which is often referred to as a single
identifying characteristic of this orchid, but (in this
authors experience) cannot in itself be used as a single
characteristic for identification because S. cernua can also
show a tendency for whitening of the floral bracts.
Overall the flower shape is quite distinctive in that it
appears to be short and fat. When viewed from the side,
the flower from the ovary to the tip of the dorsal sepal
forms an arch giving the flower a humped shape in
relation to its length and width and extends horizontally
from the rachis instead of drooping or nodding as in the
case of S. cernua. The dorsal sepal extends just beyond
the petals, curls upward at the apex, and has a cleft at
the apex. The lateral sepals hug the corolla tightly and
look like 2 upturned horns following the lines of the
upturned apex of the dorsal sepal and extending a little
beyond it. The flower coloring is white with variations
from creamy yellow to white in the center of the lip and
yellow to light green coloring running through the petals
from the base to the midpoint.
In the same location and blooming

simultaneously, as mentioned above, with Spiranthes
parksii is S. cernua, (Fig. 4). These plants include
examples of the sexual and asexual apomictic types,
along with peloric forms as well as the “cleistapogamic”
characteristic referred to by C. Sheviak, (Sheviak, 1982)
(Fig. 5). I have also observed examples of S. parksii that
275
TRESSES
appear to be apomictic, and exhibit some peloria, (Fig.

6). These plants have monstrous looking flowers that
are tightly closed with the lip barely protruding pointing
straight up parallel with the axis of the stem. On some
of the flowers the lateral sepals are at an angle away
from the corolla and many of the unopened flowers
below at the bottom of the spike are already withering
while the ovaries are swelling. Another most unusual
characteristic was the almost completely white floral
bracts. Close examination of these revealed fine green
striping running lengthwise to the apex, but they were
mostly white. I have observed the same white coloring
in the ovaries of peloric forms of S. cernua. I have also
observed plants that seem to be intermediate between S.
cernua and S. parksii in that they have the general
appearance of S. parksii with regards to general flower
shape, presentation of the lateral sepals and white
tipped floral bracts, however the lip margin is much
more undulate and the lateral sepals are not as closely
pressed to the corolla. C. Sheviak noted that S. parksii
is linked to the S. cernua complex “by its reproductive mode
and some morphological characteristics and indeed is likely
related” (Sheviak 1982). I believe that further, more
detailed, studies of S. parksii are required to understand
its standing within the S. cernua complex and will lead to
a clearer understanding of the origin of this plant.
Conservation
Earlier in this article I made mention of Lick
Creek Park and the bike trails that destroyed the on
going study being conducted by Hugh Wilson from the
276
TRESSES
Texas A & M University. In this case the community of

College Station wanted recreational mountain bike trails
and the best habitat for this type of recreation happens
to be prime habitat for Spiranthes parksii – humans 1,
orchids 0. Repeated attempts by Hugh Wilson to have
the area set aside as a preservation area fell on deaf ears,
both at the community level and the national level, e.g.
the Federal Government and the Nature Conservancy.
Even Texas Highway 6 was allowed to proceed through
prime S. parksii habitat once a so called mitigation plan,
involving a preservation area now referred to as a weed
lot, (Wilson unpublished), was built – humans 2, orchids
0. The most disturbing example of habitat destruction
for S. parksii, however, is the clear cutting of trees in
documented S. parksii habitat (remember it is essentially
a woodland orchid) for the purpose of building the
giant Texas A&M bonfire in the name of tradition and
school spirit – humans 3, orchids 0, they [the orchids]
are out! In 1994 Hugh Wilson made repeated attempts
to save this habitat from destruction, both to the Texas
A&M University administration, and to the Director,
Office of Endangered Species for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Services. Of course all of the habitat
destruction is well within the boundaries of the law and
perfectly legal, but one has to question the ethical
ramifications and hypocrisy of this situation. Ironically
the only true protection of S. parksii is being afforded by
the Texas Municipal Power Authority, (TMPA), as a
result of strip-mining operations on leased land. This
protection will also disappear as the mining operations
277
TRESSES
wind down and the land leases expire removing them

from the stewardship of the TMPA.
Summary
Spiranthes parksii is an interesting and unusual
orchid. It is interesting because it has a limited range
and therefore can teach us much about the conservation
of orchid species as we continue to study its habitats.
The general observations of the Lick Creek Park
populations show that there are similarities between S.
parksii and S. cernua and indicate that further more
detailed studies will result in a better understanding of
this relationship. Finally, I hope that greater awareness
of this orchid and others like it will lead to better
conservation efforts on the part of individuals that will
insure that all of the natural wonders around us are
available to future generations.
References:
Ayenus, E.S. 1975. Endangered and Threatened Orchids of the
United States. Amer Orchid Society Bulletin 44(5): 384 – 394
Catling, P. M. and K. L. McIntosh. 1979. SIDA 8(2): 188-193
Correll, D. S. 1950. Native Orchids Of North America North Of
Mexico. Waltham, Ma. Chronica Botanica
Correll, D. S. 1947. A new Spiranthes from Texas Amer. Orchid
Society Bull. 16:400
Correll, D. S. and Johnston, M. C. 1970. Manual of The Vascular
Plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation,1970.
Bridges, E. L. & S. L. Orzell 1989. Additions and noteworthy
Vascular Plant collections from Texas and Louisiana, with
historical, ecological and geographical notes. Phytologia 66: 12-69
278
TRESSES
Houston Chronicle 1990, Kathy Huber. Lab Gardeners Try To

Thwart Orchid Pirates. Houston Chronicle, Saturday 2/10/1990,
P.1, 2 Start edition.
Liggio, J. and Liggio A.O. 1999. Wild Orchids of Texas. University
of Texas Press, 1999.
Luer, C. A. 1975. The Native Orchids of The United States and Canada
Excluding Florida. New York Botanical garden, New York.
Evans, Robert E. and MacRoberts, Michael H. and Barbara R.
1997. Notes On Spiranthes parksii Correll (Orchidaceae) Deep
In East Texas. Phytologia, 83(3) September 1997: 133-137
Sheviak, C. J. 1982. Biosystematic Study of the Spiranthes cernua
Complex. New York State Museum Bulletin No. 448 1982.
Wilson, H. D. unpublished. Spiranthes Parksii - Endangered Orchid
of the Texas Post Oak Savannah, Texas A & M Website.
Cliff Pelchat, 5222 Timber Quail Drive, Atascosita Park, TX

77346
cliffp@fl-orchid.com
279
Sheviak: THE NORTHEASTERN MEMBERS OF THE
PLATANTHERA HYPERBOREA COMPLEX (ORCHIDACEAE).
THE NORTHEASTERN MEMBERS OF

THE PLATANTHERA HYPERBOREA
COMPLEX (ORCHIDACEAE)
Charles J. Sheviak
The Platanthera hyperborea complex is a

taxonomically perplexing group that has defied
satisfactory treatment for over 150 years. Despite
repeated investigation by some of the world's leading
systematists, the number, delimitation, and, indeed, the
nature of species in the group has remained elusive. In
recent years progress has been made through a synthesis
of information obtained from continent-wide field
study, cultivation of representative samples, and search
for new characters. These efforts have now permitted
the unambiguous application of the name P. huronensis
(Nutt.) Lindl. The information that established the
identity and status of this plant, however, remarkably
also showed that the long-standing application of the
name P. hyperborea (L.) Lindl. to a North American plant
was incorrect, and that in fact our plant was a distinct
and previously unrecognized species. The identities of
the three species involved have recently been discussed
(Sheviak, 1999); a summary of these findings is
presented here.
280
Among North American workers, the name

Platanthera hyperborea has been rather uniformly applied
for about half a century. It has been used for the
transcontinental, particularly small-flowered plant with
yellowish, rhombic-lanceolate lip and clavate spur
shorter than the lip. A remarkable feature of these
plants is their propensity to self-pollinate. The column
is low, with the anther sacs wide-spreading and nearly
lying atop the stigma. From them the pollinia literally
fall onto the stigma below. Perhaps as part of this
autopollination syndrome, flowers are commonly
scentless. The flowers are still capable of out-crossing,
however, as pollinaria are complete with orbicular
viscidia.
After years of familiarity with the plant in the

Midwest and elsewhere, I moved to New York and
found there a very different plant dominating the
group’s typical fen habitat. Although this plant was
commonly treated locally as Platanthera hyperborea, it was
not the plant that went by that name in my experience,
but was instead something I knew from the central
Canada. This plant has larger, whitish green flowers
with a lip commonly rounded-dilated at the base and a
more slender spur about the length of the lip.
Moreover, the flowers are intensely fragrant with a
sweet-pungent scent. The plants are not self-
pollinating, the column being much higher with the
anther sacs more nearly parallel, and the pollinia are
281
contained within them until removed by a pollinator.

The viscidia are oblong.
The color, fragrance, and shapes of lip, spur, and

viscidia of these eastern plants all suggested hybrids
involving Platanthera dilatata (Pursh) Lindl. ex Beck, with
it’s brilliant white, intensely clove-scented flowers with
strongly dilated lip, slender spur, and linear viscidia.
Arguing against such an interpretation, however, was
the dominance of these intermediate plants in large
populations without the presence of other species.
Cytology provides the key here, for the greenish

white plants are tetraploids, whereas both Platanthera
dilatata and the other green-flowered plant are diploids.
Quite clearly, these intermediate-appearing plants arose
through hybridization of P. dilatata and a green-flowered
species, perhaps the plants that we’d known as P.
hyperborea. Chromosome doubling then fixed the
intermediate morphology and simultaneously
reproductively isolated the tetraploids from their diploid
progenitors. The biology, then, was reasonably clear,
but what were we to call the plants?
In 1818 Thomas Nuttall published Orchis

huronensis Nuttall, describing a plant that he had
encountered “on the islands of Lakes Huron and
Michigan” while on an expedition to Fort Mandan.
Unfortunately, he evidently lost the specimens, and a
type is unknown. Given the complexity of the group
and the difficulty of interpreting even living plants, his
282
name understandably has been variously applied. With

the information that has been gained in recent years,
however, it is now possible to establish the identity of
Nuttall’s plant. The color, lip shape, and spur length
specified by Nuttall precisely agree with the tetraploid
plants discussed here, and furthermore, no other plant
known from the upper Great Lakes region fits his
description. Additionally, sketches of the lip in his
expedition journal emphasize the rounded-dilated base
that clearly excludes the other green flowered plant of
the region. Clearly the plants under consideration here
are to be called Platanthera huronensis.
It should be noted also that Platanthera ×media

(Rydb.) Luer is commonly used for suspected hybrids,
but Rydberg’s type is typical of P. huronensis and hence is
to be treated as a synonym.
This is a remarkably clear and precise resolution

to a very old problem in this group, but, typically
perhaps, it is not quite so clean as it first appeared.
Consistent application of the data that had been
obtained to delimit the two eastern green-flowered
plants disclosed a contradiction: The North American
plants treated as P. hyperborea are diploid, but in Iceland,
from where the species was originally described, plants
are reported to be tetraploid. Are Icelandic plants
merely tetraploid derivatives of the North American
species? Subsequent study of Iceland specimens
disclosed that, in fact, Icelandic plants are
283
morphologically very different from the American

plants that had born their name.
My interpretation of Icelandic plants is

necessarily provisional, as it is based solely on study of
herbarium specimens and on published photographs
and descriptions. From these sources it is evident that
considerable variability is present on the island. At one
extreme, plants are rather tall and slender, with
acuminate-lanceolate lips and slender spurs that
together appear comparable to Platanthera huronensis in
North America. The majority of plants are much
shorter, however, with broad-segmented flowers
commonly with rather short, broad lips abruptly
angular-dilated at the base and a short, clavate spur. The
flowers furthermore typically open widely and
immediately, without the prolonged period during
which the apex of the lip may be adnate to the apices of
the dorsal sepal and petals, as is typical of American
plants. Columns are rather low, the anther sacs wide-
spreading, but not so extreme as in P. aquilonis; the
column is intermediate between those of the two
American species, yet the viscidia are very narrow, often
linear and narrower than in P. huronensis. Published
descriptions and photographs indicate that the flowers
are whitish green or yellowish, and sweetly fragrant.
From the literature and study of specimens it appears
that some, but perhaps not all, plants are self
pollinating, perhaps in the manner of P. aquilonis.
284
It is not possible from the available sources to

establish whether the Icelandic variability occurs within
a single taxon or results from the presence of more than
one. Clearly, however, nothing in Iceland exhibits the
suite of characteristics seen in the North American
Platanthera aquilonis; Icelandic plants are therefore not
merely tetraploid derivatives of the North American
plant. On the other hand, the larger Icelandic plants are
very similar to P. huronensis, and thus raise the question
of the relationship between P. hyperborea and P.
huronensis. The smaller Icelandic plants, however, appear
to be quite different, and, furthermore, the type of
Linneaus’ Orchis hyperborea is very small and represents
the smallest extreme of the range in variation. Given
the differences between the majority of Icelandic plants
and American plants of P. huronensis, in the absence of
evidence to the contrary it appears best to maintain P.
huronensis as distinct from P. hyperborea.
Obviously, this isn’t the end of the story. The

relationship of P. hyperborea and P. huronensis must be
explored further. Does true P. hyperborea occur on the
North American mainland, or is it truly limited to
Greenland? Typical of the group, each time a question
is answered new ones are raised that compel one to
keep looking.
285
Literature Cited:
Sheviak, C. J. 1999. The identities of Platanthera hyperborea and P.

huronensis, with the description of a new species from
North America. Lindleyana 14: 193-203.
Charles J. Sheviak. Biological Survey, New York State Museum,

Albany, NY 12230. e-mail: csheviak@mail.nysed.gov.
See color plate 1 for illustrations.
286
Brown: SPECIES PAIRS
SPECIES PAIRS
Paul Martin Brown
Two species that have taxonomically be treated

as a single species or as varieties and then revalidated as
individual taxa are often referred to as species pairs.
Because of their close similarities they can often be
confusing, both in the field and in herbarium
specimens. The following are examples of species pairs
that are found in the United States and Canada. The
most distinctive and critical character is cited to
differentiate between the species. There may also be
several other criteria that serve to differentiate between
the two such as range, pollinator, fragrance etc.
References are given for works that explain the
differences in greater detail. Several other North
American species could also be considered part of a
species pair but the other species does not occur within
our range. The accompanying drawings are of entire
plants and do not necessarily illustrate the critical
characters.
Several species pairs are well illustrated in Luer's two

volumes on the orchids of the United States and Canada
and in Correll's Native Orchids of North America north
of Mexico. These are noted with each description.
287
Calopogon barbatus - petals widest below the middle

Calopogon multiflorus - petals widest above the middle
C. barbatus C. multiflorus
288
Cleistes bifaria - column 13<n>19 mm long; lip 26 mm

long; leaf and bract broadly lanceolate
Cleistes divaricata - column 21<n>25 mm long; lip
34<n>56 mm long; leaf and bract narrowly lanceolate
Catling, P.M. & K.B. Gregg. 1992. Lindleyana 7(2): 57-73.
C. bifaria C. divaricata
289
Habenaria macroceratitis - anterior division of the lateral

petal more than twice (20-24mm) the length of the
posterior division (8-11mm); flowers, when view
straight on, with a distinct rectangular aspect; spur often
greater than 10 cm (in living material); plants of rich
mesic hardwood hammocks
Habenaria quinqueseta - anterior division of the lateral

petal less than twice (10-18mm) the length of the
posterior division (6-9mm); spur typically less than 10
cm (in living material); plants of open pinelands,
hedgerows and fields
H. macroceratitis H. quinqueseta
290
Malaxis wendtii - inflorescence densely flowered, lip

saggitate
Malaxis porphyrea - inflorescence loosely flowered, lip
triangular
Salazar, G. 1993. Orquidea(Mex.) 13(1-2): 281-284.
Todsen, T. SIDA 1995. 16(3): 591.
Todsen, T. SIDA 1997. 17: 637-638.
M. porphyrea M. wendtii
291
Platanthera macrophylla - spur; length 28 mm or longer,

horizontal; petals upward spreading
Platanthera orbiculata - spur length 28 mm or shorter,
descending; petals wide spreading
Reddoch, A.H. & J. M. Reddoch 1993. Lindleyana. 8(4): 171-188.
P. macrophylla P. orbiculata
292
Platanthera psycodes - spur oriface a transverse dumbell

Platanthera grandiflora - spur oriface round
Stoutamire, W.P. 1974. Brittonia 26: 42-58.
P. grandiflora P. psycodes
293
Platanthera leucophaea - plants primarily east of the

Mississippi River; lobes of the lip on a flat plane
Platanthera praeclara - plants primarily west of the
Mississippi River; lobes of the lip bowl-shaped
Sheviak, C. J. & M. Bowles. 1986. Rhodora. 88: 267-290.
P. leucophaea P. praeclara
294
Platythelys querciticola - longest leaf proportions 4:1;

capsule prominently ribbed; plants of central and
northern Florida
Platythelys sagreana - longest leaf proportions 6:1;
capsule indistinctly ribbed; plants of southern
Florida
Brown, P.M. 1998. NANOJ 5(1):3
P. querciticola P. sagreana
295
Ponthieva brittoniae - petals narrow lacking the green

striping
Ponthieva racemosa - petal broad, prominently striped with
green
McCartney, C.L., Jr. 1995. NA Native Orchid Journal 1(2): 106-116.
P. brittoniae P. racemosa
296
Spiranthes brevilabris - rachis and inflorescence densely

glandular
Spiranthes floridana - rachis and inflorescence essentially
glabrous
S. brevilabris S. floridana
297
Spiranthes amesiana - margin of lip crenulate

Spiranthes torta - margin of lip ciliate-undulate
S. amesiana S. torta
298
Vanilla dilloniana - sepals and petals slender, c. 1 cm

wide, 5+ cm long
Vanilla barbellata - sepals and petals broad, c. 1.5 cm
wide, less than 5cm long
V. barbellata V. dilloniana
299
Brown:FOR
Hágsater: NEW NAMES SPECIES PAIRS
FLORIDA EPIDENDRUMS
NEW NAMES FOR FLORIDA

EPIDENDRUMS
Eric Hágsater
The genus Epidendum consists of some 2000

species ranging throughout the Neotropics from Florida
to northern Argentina. Due to the similarity of many
species, they were often lumped into one or another
“variable” species, sometimes consisting of groups of
over fifty distinct entities. Some of these groups are
today better understood, though new material continues
to shed light on the species diversity. The difforme group
is one of these, mainly thanks to the work by Hágsater
and Sánchez, of which there is a brief overview and key
to species in Sánchez & Hágsater, (1996) as presented at
the World Orchid Conference in Río de Janeiro.
Among the many findings, some apply to several

Florida orchids. Some of which have led to the
description of one new species, and the recognition of
earlier names or the recognition of species which had
been lumped into synonyms.
300
Hágsater: NEW NAMES FOR FLORIDA EPIDENDRUMS
Epidendrum magnoliae Mühl. (Cat. Pl. Amer. Sept. p.

81. 1813.) is the earlier name of Epidendrum conopseum R.
Brown ex Aiton, (Hort. Kew. ed. 2, 5: 219. 1813).
Mühlenberg’s Catalogue was published in October,
whereas Aiton was published in November of the same
year. Rules of taxonomic priority require that the earlier
name be used instead of the well-known name
published by Robert Brown.
Epidendrum floridense Hágsater
The name Epidendrum difforme Jacq. was used until

the late 1980’s for some 65 species which form the
difforme group. In 1993 Hágsater and collaborators
published several new species distinguishing the various
entities found in the Antilles and Florida, which are
distinct from the true Epidendrum difforme. This species is
endemic to the Lesser Antilles, and is easily recognizable
by the strongly laterally compressed, ancipitose stems,
among other characteristics.
Florida shares one species of this group with

Cuba, recognized by the terete stems, cordate,
emarginate lip, short, rounded calli, straight column
with an obtuse tooth at each side of the apex, and the
short, obconical clinandrium which has an erose margin.
This species was described as Epidendrum floridense
Hágsater (1993a).
301
There are two other species in Cuba, namely

Epidendrum umbellatum Sw. with large, succulent plants,
the stems laterally compressed and ancipitose, narrowly
oblanceolate petals, and a 3-lobed lip deeply bilobed at
the apex. The other, with compact plants is Epidendrum
orientale Hágsater & M. A. Díaz (1993), which has terete
stems, a bilobed lip with the lobes semiovate and
sometimes notched at the margin, giving the impression
of a 4-lobed lip, deeply cordate base, apex widely
emarginate, margin crenulate, with two short, wide,
divergent calli, column arcuate and the clinandrium
irregularly dentate.
Key to the species of the Epidendrum difforme

group in Florida and the Greater Antilles
Stems laterally flattened

Sheaths ancipitose (two-edged), midlobe of the lip
subquadrate to transversely rectangular, plants robust,
lip larger than 12 x 19 mm, column straight to slightly
arched, clinandrium prominent, erose; widespread
throughout the Antilles …………………..E. umbellatum
Sheaths, rounded, midlobe of lip emarginate, less
than 11 x 19 mm, column strongly arched, clinandrium
upturned, entire; Puerto Rico and Hispaniola
………………………………E. boricuarum
Stems terete
Plants elongate, not vigorous, up to 26 cm tall, lip 5-9
x 9-18.5 mm, margin entire, clinandrium entire;
southern Florida and Cuba…………E. floridense
Plants compact, vigorous, 7-12 cm tall, lip 5-6.5 x 10-
11 mm, margin sinuous, clinandrium dentate; known
302
from eastern Cuba, Hispaniola and

Jamaica…………………………………E. orientale
Epidendrum amphistomum A. Rich.
The species which is commonly called the brown

orchid in Florida, and has been identified as Epidendrum
anceps Jacq. is not the widespread species of the Antilles,
but rather, a species endemic to southern Florida, Cuba
and Hispaniola. It was described from Cuba by Achilles
Richard as Epidendrum amphistomum in 1853. It is
recognized by the tall plants and the lip bilobed, not
deeply 3-lobed. The choice of the name brown orchid
in Florida is unfortunate, as it is mostly greenish-yellow,
and the name was probably taken from Epidendrum
fuscatum Sw., a synonym of E. anceps.
Though the plants are usually green and the

flowers yellow-green, a reddish-leaved form has been
described by P. M. Brown (2000). It is said to be
scattered throughout the Fakahatchee Swamp.
Garay (1974) suggested that the name Epidendrum

secundum Jacq. should be used instead of Epidendrum
anceps for the brown to green flowered species of the
Antilles. This was due to his choice of type for either
name. However, Hágsater (1993b) has discussed the
typification of both names and lectotypified Epidendrum
secundum Jacq. This name applies to the pink flowered
species closely related to the brightly colored South
American species common in cultivation.
303
Key to the species of the Epidendrum anceps

group in the Antilles and north of Nicaragua
Petals oblanceolate-spathulate
Lip bilobed, flowers greenish yellow, sometimes,
copper brown, fragrance of over-ripe vegetables,
Florida, Cuba and Hispaniola…..E. amphistomum A.
Rich.
Lip 3-lobed, the apical lobe emarginate, flowers
brownish to green, widespread throughout the
Antilles………………………………E. anceps Jacq.
Petals filiform
Lip 3-lobed, sepals olive-green, lip purple, southern
Mexico to Nicaragua …………...E. galeottianum A. Rich.
REFERENCES:
Brown, P. M., 2000. Recent taxonomic and distributional notes
from Florida 5. North Amer. Native Orch. Journ. 6(1): 62-66.
Garay, L. A. & H. R. Sweet, 1974. Orchidaceae, in R. A. Howard,
Flora of the Lesser Antilles. pp. 156, 158, Fig. 56.
Hágsater, E., 1993b. Epidendrum anceps or Epidendrum secundum?
Orquídea (Méx.) 13: 153-158.
1993a. Epidendrum floridense Hágsater, Icones Orch. 2: 133.
Hágsater, E. & M. A. Díaz, 1993. Epidendrum orientale Hágsater &
M. A. Díaz, Icones Orch. 2: 167.
Hágsater, E. & L. Sánchez, 1993. Epidendrum boricuarum Hágsater
& L. Sánchez, Icones Orch. 2: 114.
Sánchez, L. M. & E. Hágsater, 1996. Taxonomic study of
Hágsater: NEW
Epidendrum NAMES
difforme FOR(Orchidaceae).
group FLORIDA EPIDENDRUMS
Proceedings of the
th
15 World Orchid Congress. pp. 235-244.
Eric Hágsater Herbario AMO, Apartado Postal 53-123, México

D.F. 11320, MEXICO
eric@internet.com.mx
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
Wagner, Wager & Brown: RARE, THREATENED & ENDANGERED
ORCHIDS OF NORTH AMERICA: Part 4. Canada
RARE, THREATENED AND

ENDANGERED ORCHIDS OF NORTH
AMERICA
Part 4. Canada
Anne B. Wagner, Ken Wagner, Paul Martin Brown
In continuing the four-part article on the listed

orchids in North America, the data accumulated by
Anne & Ken Wagner for Canada is presented. Several
Provinces and regions have no listing for rare,
threatened or endangered species. Please remember in
reading this information it is essential to know that each
state or province has its own criteria and definitions of
rare, threatened and endangered. Unfortunately
personal opinions and priorities often color the makeup
of these lists. We are trying to give references wherever
possible for the plants that are listed. Some states and
provinces update continually, other as far apart as 10
years! Very few afford legal protection to the plants.
Websites are given and a contact person when known.
The nomenclature used is as it was received from the
various sources and often does not agree with
contemporary usage. In this installment a complete list
of cross-reference for the names is given.
311
If a given species is not listed for a given state
or province it means that the status has not been
determined - and that for any number of reasons.
When available, the status within the state or province is
given. Although abbreviations are not always consistent
the following usually are reliable: (may be preceded by a
S for state)
E = Endangered S1
T = Threatened S2
R=Rare S3
SC= Special Concern S3
X= extirpated
H = historical
U = unknown
For precise definitions and current status readers are
encouraged to contact the sources listed for each state
and province.
ABERTA
Joyce Gould
http://www.gov.ab.ca/env/parks/anhic/anhic.html
Cypripedium acaule-- S2
Cypripedium montanum-- S2
Listera caurina-- S1S2
Listera convallarioides-- S2
Malaxis monophylla-- S2
Malaxis paludosa-- S1S2
Platanthera stricta-- S2
Spiranthes lacera-- S1
ATLANTIC CANADA
Stefen H. Gerriets, Data Manager
312
stefen.gerriets@ec.gc.ca
no status given
Amerorchis rotundifolia
Arethusa bulbosa
Calopogon tuberosus var. tuberosus
Calypso bulbosa var. americana
Coeloglossum viride var. virescens
Coeloglossum viride var. viride
Corallorrhiza maculata
Corallorrhiza striata var. striata
Corallorrhiza trifida
Cypripedium acaule
Cypripedium arietinum
Cypripedium parviflorum
Cypripedium planipetalum
Cypripedium pubescens
Cypripedium reginae
Epipactis helleborine
Galearis spectabilis
Goodyera oblongifolia
Goodyera pubescens
Goodyera repens var. ophioides
Goodyera tesselata
Liparis loeselii
Listera auriculata
Listera australis
Listera borealis
Listera convallarioides
Listera cordata var. cordata
Listera x veltmanii
Malaxis brachypoda
Malaxis unifolia
Platanthera albida var. straminea
Platanthera blephariglottis
Platanthera blephariglottis var. blephariglottis
313
Platanthera clavellata
Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata
Platanthera flava var. flava
Platanthera flava var. herbiola
Platanthera grandiflora
Platanthera hookeri
Platanthera hyperborea var. huronensis
Platanthera hyperborea var. hyperborea
Platanthera lacera
Platanthera lacera var. lacera
Platanthera lacera var. terrae-novae
Platanthera leucophaea
Platanthera obtusata
Platanthera orbiculata var. macrophylla
Platanthera orbiculata var. orbiculata
Platanthera psycodes
Platanthera x andrewsii
Platanthera x media
Pogonia ophioglossoides
Spiranthes casei var. casei
Spiranthes casei var. novaescotiae
Spiranthes cernua
Spiranthes lacera var. lacera
Spiranthes lucida
Spiranthes ochroleuca
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Spiranthes x intermedia
314
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Liparis loeselii s1
Malaxis brachypoda s2s3
Malaxis diphyllos s1?
Malaxis paludosa s2s3
Platanthera dilatata var. albiflora s1?
MANITOBA
François Blouin
www.gov.mb.ca/natres/cdc
No status given
Arethusa bulbosa
Calopogon pulchellus
Cypripedium arietinum
Cypripedium candidum
Cypripedium calceolus var. planipetalum
Goodyera tesselata
Listera auriculata
Listera borealis
Malaxis brachypoda
Malaxis paludosa
Malaxis unifolia
Platanthera hookeri
Platanthera lacera var. lacera
Platanthera psycodes
Platanthera praeclara
Pogonia ophioglossoides
Spiranthes magnicamporum
ONTARIO
Michael J. Oldham
Michael.Oldham@mnr.gov.on.ca
Aplectrum hyemale S2
Coeloglossum viride var. virideS2?
315
Corallorhiza odontorhiza S2
Cypripedium arietinum S3
Cypripedium calceolus var. planipetalum S1
Cypripedium candidum S1
Isotria medeoloides S1
Isotria verticillata S1
Liparis liliifolia S2
Listera auriculata S3
Listera australis S2
Listera borealis S2
Malaxis paludosa S1
Platanthera blephariglottis S3S4
Platanthera ciliaris SX
Platanthera flava var. herbiola S3
Platanthera grandiflora S1
Platanthera leucophaea S2
Platanthera macrophylla S2
Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis S1
Spiranthes magnicamporum S3
Spiranthes ochroleuca S2
Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata S1
Triphora trianthophora S1
QUEBEC
Aplectrum hyemale T
Corallorhiza odontorhiza var. pringlei T
Cypripedium arietinum vulnerable
SASKATCHEWAN
Arethusa bulbosa s1
Calypso bulbosa s3
Coeloglossum viride var. virescens s3s4
Corallorrhiza striata s2s3
Cypripedium arietinum s1
Cypripedium candidum sh g4
316
Cypripedium montanum s1
Cypripedium passerinum s2
Cypripedium pubescens s2
Cypripedium reginae s1
Goodyera oblongifolia s2
Liparis loeselii s1s2
Listera borealis s1
Listera cordata s2
Malaxis monophyllos var. brachypoda s1s2
Malaxis paludosa s1
Platanthera dilatata s2
Platanthera orbiculata s2s3
Spiranthes lacera s2s3
NWT:
None listed as Rare, Threatened or Endangered
CROSS-REFERENCES FOR SYNONYMS:

Nomenclature always presents a problem with synonyms
because different agencies use different sources for their lists.
Apart from what one may think is a correct name, we have tried
to cross-reference synonyms to make the list more usable. If a
taxon is listed that does not occur in North America we have
replaced it with the taxon that is generally accepted. The original
spelling provided by the various agencies has been preserved and
no attempt has been made to correct it.
Calopogon pulchellus = C. tuberosus

Cypripedium calceolus var. parviflorum = C. parviflorum var. makasin
Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens = C. parviflorum var. pubescens
Cypripedium calceolus var. planipetalum = C. parviflorum var. pubescens
(planipetalum not a valid taxon)
Cypripedium calceolus = C. parviflorum in variety (C. calceolus does not
occur in NA)
317
Epidendrum conopseum = E. magnoliae
Habenaria dilatata = Platanthera dilatata
Habenaria unalascensis = Piperia unalascensis
Habenaria viridis var. bracteata = Ceologlossum viride
Malaxis ehrenbergii = M. pophryrea
Malaxis macrostachya = M. soulei
Malaxis monophylla = M. brachypoda
Orchis spectabilis = Galearis spectabilis
Platanthera hyperborea = P. aquilonis
Spiranthes brevilabris var. floridana = S. floridana
Encyclia boothiana = Prosthechea boothiana var. erythronoiodes
Encyclia cochleata = Prosthechea cochleata var. triandra
Encyclia pygmaea = Prosthechea pygmaea
Epidendrum difforme = E. floridanum
Galeandra beyrichii = G. bicarinata (G. beyrichii does not occur in the
US)
Govenia utriculata = G. floridana (G. utriculata does not occur in the
US)
Leochilus labiatus does not occur in the US
Oncidium bahamense = Tolumnia variagata
Oncidium luridum = Lophiaris maculata (O. luridum does not occur in
the US)
Polyradicion lindenii = Dendrophylax lindenii
Spiranthes adnata = Pelexia adnata
Spiranthes costaricensis = Beloglottis costaricensis
Spiranthes elata = Cyclopogon elatus
Spiranthes lanceolata var. paludicola = Sacoila l. var. p.
Spiranthes polyantha = Mesadenus lucayanus (M. polyanthus does not
occur in the US)
Triphora latifolia = T. amazonica
Triphora yucatenensis = T. rickettii
318
Empiricist: FRIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES
FRIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES
The Slow Empiricist
This column is devoted to some of the problems

that orchid enthusiasts have encountered in their field
experiences. It is hoped that the wise will figure out
some means of circumventing these occurrences better
than what actually happened. Of course, many of the
events were unhappy accidents that no one could have
foreseen happening. For those situations it is hoped that
the wise will understand what were the fortunate
circumstances that insured a positive outcome. Let's
start with the accidents that could befall anyone.
I will relate an accident that happened to myself a

few years back. I was with Paul Martin Brown in New
Hampshire. We had driven to the base of Peaked
Mountain, a smaller mountain that had a rare plant on
it's upper slopes. No, it was not an orchid! Even the
most avid orchid enthusiast usually has other species
that interest him/her. We were looking for the White
Mt. silverling, Paronychia Canadensis var. albimontana,
which grew in this location. We had our dog, Brandy,
with us and I was also outfitted with a warm jacket and
the ubiquitous bug spray that I carry since the bugs love
me as soon as I show my face in their proximity. Paul
carried his photography equipment and off we went.
321
The initial ascent was through a lovely copse that

thinned as we climbed. When we broke out of the trees
we were high above the wooded valley on some
spectacular rocky slopes. They formed a broad
pavement that was easy to traverse. Pushing ever higher,
we finally came to the place where the silverling grew.
Paul got his photographs and the dog and I enjoyed the
view. As we started down, I stepped on a section of the
slope that was darker than the surrounding pavement. It
was in reality a moist patch of lichen that I ventured on.
My feet went out from under me and I fell flat on my
back against the granite pavement. It knocked the wind
out of me and after I caught my breath and ascertained
that I could move, I detected a sharp pain in my right
shoulder. There was nothing for me to do but to
struggle to my feet and work my way off the mountain.
I certainly did not anticipate falling on those smooth
pavements nor did I enjoy my descent. To make a long
story shorter, I cracked my rib when I fell. Most likely I
fell on my bug spray container, which was in my jacket
pocket and must have twisted up and behind me as I
fell. I would have fared better if I had carried a soft,
plastic, squeeze-type container.
Two days later, after a visit to the emergency

room of the local hospital showed my problem to be a
crack in my rib, I fractured it completely when I
sneezed. This time I was alone in the woods near my
summer home. I had decided I needed to get my
strength back for a West Coast trip I was scheduled to
take that week. I literally crawled home in agony. I
322
ended up wearing a Velcro back brace for my trip to the

Olympics in Washington State two days later.
If I could have been more alert to what I was

treading on up on that mountain, I could have avoided
most of ensuing problems but I had not even thought
in the terms of the rocks being wet. There was no clue
that water had been seeping out of the rocks except for
the darker color. I was still novice enough not to
recognize that sign. It did make a good story for my
companions on the trip to the Olympics and I got a lot
of sympathy for my troubles. It is still not the way to go
and I urge anyone who is venturing into mountain
territory to be cautious of where they are stepping.
It is interesting to what lengths a wildflower

enthusiast will go to photograph a particular specimen.
On that Olympic trip I saw many who clambered up
sheer cliff sides to get close enough to photograph a
particular plant or to inch just as precariously down a
steep slope to reach another specimen. With my injury I
was content to stay on the trail and I very often found
the same specimens close to the trail. The plants had
either washed down from their perch or had seeded in
at a more convenient level.
I remember Paul Martin Brown hanging over the

side of a cliff with the ocean crashing against the rocks
below to get a photograph of the giant rattlesnake
orchid, Goodyera oblongifolia, up in the Gaspe of Quebec,
Canada. If he leaned much further I had visions of him
hurtling 150 feet to the rocks below. No orchid is worth
323
risking your life for it but many people don't think they
will have a problem and risk life and limb to catch that
elusive photograph.
Speaking of Paul Martin Brown, he had a

terrifying experience this past spring while he was
working his way back to the car from a very successful
photographing session. He was in the Everglades in
southern Florida and had completed his quest of
photographing Oncidium floridanum. As he was walking
over the rough terrain that was rocky limestone
outcrops and dangerous solution holes (holes in the
limestone substrata that could be anywhere from a few
cm to several meters across) he caught his walking stick
in a tiny hole and was thrown off balance when he
lurched to the side and his foot went into another larger
solution hole. He fell flat forward ripping his hands on
the rough limestone and tearing up his leg. Blood shot
up from his palm and he passed out. Fortunately the
park biologist was with him and together they stemmed
the bleeding and after ascertaining nothing was broken
managed to walk the mile or so to the ranger's vehicle.
At the research station Paul realized his leg was pretty
badly damaged. He ended up in the emergency room
and had over 38 stitches in the two wounds by the time
the doctors were through with him.
If Paul had been alone he could have easily died

out there. People who venture into dangerous territory
should have a companion with them. A lot of people
think they can do it alone because they are young and
strong. They also go alone because they take their cell
324
phone with them, thinking they can call for help. That
may work and then again it may not. There may be no
cell service in that particular wilderness or as in Paul's
case you might be unconscious.
Then there are those people who wander off

from their companions and get lost in the wilds. That
has happened to me since I don't photograph and I like
to explore. Once I walked for what seemed miles down
a parallel path that gradually took me further away from
the others until I got out on the road and realized I had
wandered nearly a mile from where we went into the
preserve. Now, I always take the time to note landmarks
as I get out of sight of the others. I also turn around
occasionally because things look entirely different going
the other way.
I related in an earlier column how Paul and I

searched for Calopogons in the Everglades until darkness
overtook us. That could have presented a serious
problem if we were not near to the parking area when
night fell. It was also advantageous that the trail was
fairly smooth and easy to make out in the gloom. The
area was also fairly civilized with campgrounds and
facilities nearby. This meant we were not in much
danger from night predators.
Finding a dangerous animal or reptile on your

excursions is another event you need to be aware of and
have some idea of how you will react. In Florida there
are creatures like alligators and snakes that can appear
almost magically as you wend your way into their
325
territory. Since it is their territory you should treat them

with respect and get out of their immediate way.
Walking sticks that sweep the area in front of you can
send a snake slithering away or at least warn you that
they are there as they bestir themselves to attack or to
let you see them. I am told rattlesnakes have learned not
to rattle as they have been killed off as they reveal their
presence. At least Paul only heard a tiny sound that
clued him to the presence of a large diamond backed
rattler close to him. Alligators, I am told cannot turn
quickly so you can avoid them by zigzagging away from
them if you are on dry land. Water confrontations are
not so easily avoided. But what are you doing in water
that deep in the first place? My best advice is to be very
alert and proceed slowly in such situations.
Sometimes you get the wrong information and

end up in a troublesome situation. Paul Martin Brown
was at Schoodic Point in Maine and hoped to see a rare
gentian that grows on an island that can be reached by a
land-bridge at low tide, but is isolated by the sea at high
tide. He stopped at the Coast Guard station to see if the
tide was going out. He was assured it was, so he took
his camera equipment and crossed the channel. He
started his explorations and fortunately noticed that the
tide was NOT going out, but was coming in. He barely
managed to make the return crossing as the chilly water
was rapidly coming up to his chest. A wet and angry
Paul let the Coast Guard know they were wrong. The
sailor said what did he know he was from Oklahoma.
326
Lastly, people have had problems when they

travel to a particular site for plants. When you are on
your way to a new orchid site, are you familiar with the
terrain? We were excited about traveling through the
Smoky Mountains and going up the Blue Ridge Parkway
in Virginia to see the spring wildflowers and orchids.
The weather was less than cooperative and we
encountered lots of fog and drizzle, which impeded our
success in locating many plants. We had to leave the
area because part of the Parkway was closed due to the
weather and encountered a horrendous rainstorm with
lots of wind and lightening. By judicially pulling into an
area business and waiting out the storm we avoided
running straight into a tornado that touched down along
the area we would have been traveling through had we
not stopped. We could not do much about the weather
because we were scheduled to travel in that part of the
country at that time but we certainly could do
something about waiting out the problem.
Another potential problem with travel occurs

when you have more than one vehicle making the
journey. Often people who are in a caravan of
automobiles going to a new area don't take the time to
make sure whoever is behind them has kept pace.
Sometimes a traffic light will change and delay the
people behind and sometimes other cars will infiltrate
the caravan and make following difficult. It is a good
idea for someone knowledgeable about the area to act
as sweep; riding at the rear of the caravan to make sure
everybody gets there.
327
So how do you prepare for those miserable

accidents and stupid miscalculations that land you in
trouble? My best advice is to try to prepare wisely for
your expedition. Try to get the most accurate
information available. Check maps to ensure you know
where you are going. Make sure your vehicle is in good
traveling condition. Know what the weather is going to
be like. If you are less than sure footed, carry a walking
stick and use it judicially. Know your strengths and
don't overreach yourself and your abilities. Try to always
share your orchid expeditions with a fellow human who
can act as helpmate if need be. Be prepared to do the
same for them. Take items like the cell phone, extra
food, water or compass that you may need to
circumvent a problem. When a problem occurs, don't
panic! Use all those abilities that have gotten you this far
in your life to get you out of your predicament. Good
hunting on no more terrifying experiences.
Your Slow Empiricist
328
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO

VOLUME 6
Please make the following corrections and additions to

Volume 6 number 1, March 2000.
Page 61: should read:

Epidendrum amphistomum A. Richard forma
rubrifolium P.M. Brown forma nova
ETYMOLOGY: rubrifolium for the coloring of the
leaves
Listera australis Lindley forma scottii P.M. Brown

forma nova
Forma multifolius inter inflorescentia conspeciebus
diversa;. TYPE: UNITED STATES: Florida, Alachua
County. Holotype: off Williston Road c. 3 miles west of
I-75. January 23, 2000. Brown 20123 (holotype, FLAS).
Photo. NANOJ 2000 6(1): 74.
329
Folsom: THE SACOILA SAGA CONTINUES
Stanley N. Folsom
If you read my article about discovering a new

color form for the red flowered ladies'-tresses, Sacoila
lanceolata, in last year's Journal, which Paul Martin
Brown described and named for me you may be
interested in learning the latest about this species. As
this orchid, the green and white form and the regular
red colored ones started to bloom along the Florida
turnpike, the authority in charge of the roadside
continued its care of the orchids by carefully mowing
around the plants. They do this while they are in bloom
and wait until they have set seed before they mow them
off. Paul Martin Brown flagged some of the rarer plants
like the gold form, S. lanceolata forma folsomii, but as the
turnpike had already been mowing around the plants
they merely served as markers to facilitate finding them
after they are out of bloom. Because of the turnpike
authority's concern, it looks like they will be safe for
another year.
A new site for the red form of the plants was

found this spring along SR 200 in Ocala, Florida. They
were found on a stretch of the highway that is being 6
laned from 2 lanes. Paul thought the plants were far
enough back from the widening to survive the
330
roadwork. There were approximately 15 flowering

stems. However, when Paul returned to Florida in
August of 2000 to capture several species blooming
then with photographs for our new book, The Wild
Orchids of Florida, he thought that the roadwork had
eradicated the site for the Sacoila lanceolata. We will not
know for sure until we see if any come back after the
work is finished. At the very least the heavy equipment
was parked in that area or at the very worst the entire
population was wiped out as they reshaped the berm of
the roadway. I discovered another new roadside site
nearly opposite a site on US 301 in Starke that Paul had
found it spring. It appears to be safer as the roadwork
there is completed and the lady who owns the property
was thrilled to have it growing on the banking at the
edge of her land.
This summer while Paul was working on

reviewing a new book on the orchids of the Caribbean,
he came upon a notation of a Sacoila squamulosa listed for
Florida among the references in the book. This
intrigued him because he has been very hard at work
putting the finishing touches on our new book. He had
not heard of this orchid as being in Florida. He
promptly went to work to find out if he could find the
citations that put this orchid in Florida. The author,
Mark Nir, e-mailed Paul right back with the two
references in their original Spanish. One was published
in 1910 and the other in 1946. As neither of us is fluent
in Spanish the translation took a bit of time to unravel. I
located a Spanish/English dictionary that we had picked
up at a discount salvage store and we set out to decipher
331
the meaning. Paul could understand the Latin words

and the dictionary had most of the Spanish words
translated in it. He read me the word and I looked it up
as we slowly pieced together the description of the
plant. We also took the paper to a neighbor who knew
Spanish conversationally and her son who had traveled
in Central America was also able to fill in several
missing links.
Paul's ability to recognize the implications of the

text coupled with his curiosity about some Sacoila plants
that had not been typical when he discovered them
growing near our Florida home lead him to search out
his photographs of these plants and compare them to
the photo the author had e-mailed him. Checking out
the descriptions from the Spanish references Paul
determined that his photos most likely were of S.
squamulosa.
To be really sure of his suspicions, we made a

hurried trip down from our summer home in Maine to
Harvard University's Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames
and botany library. Here he was able to get more
information including colored drawings of the plant and
a line drawing made by Oakes Ames in 1922. Things
were definitely falling into place and just in time to
make The Wild Orchids of Florida publication.
Paul's following article will give more technical

information on the species.
332
Brown: RECENT TAXONOMIC AND DISTRIBUTIONAL NOTES
FROM FLORIDA 8.
RECENT TAXONOMIC AND

DISTRIBUTIONAL NOTES FROM
FLORIDA 8.
Paul Martin Brown
In continuing the work for the Wild Orchids of Florida: a

field guide, one new taxon, several notes of interest and three
taxonomic transfers need to be made.
Sacoila squamulosa (H.B.K.) Garay

In Orchidaceae Antillinae (Nir, 2000) Sacoila
squamulosa (as Stenorrhynchos squamulosa) has Florida listed
in its range. After carefully comparing the literature
from several West Indian works that list the species as
distinct, as well as illustrations, it became evident that
Sacoila squamulosa does indeed occur in Florida. In 1997
plants of Sacoila were found in Marion County and
when they flowered in May of 1998 they were
somewhat different from typical Sacoila lanceolata. Sacoila
squamulosa is described as having scurfy white dots
throughout the rachis and inflorescence, and, although
still pubescent, lacking in the dense fine pubescence of
S. lanceolata. Also the mentum is much more
pronounced. Both of these characters were present in
the Marion County plants. In addition, Sacoila lanceolata
(at least in Florida) is apomictic and the plants identified
333
FROM FLORIDA 8.
as S. squamulosa appear to be sexual. Recent examination

of herbarium specimens has reveal S. squamulosa in three
other central Florida counties.
Sacoila squamulosa
334
FROM FLORIDA 8.
Mesadenus lucayanus (Britton) Schlechter

There has been much confusion over two species
of Mesadenus to be found in the West Indies, Mexico
and Florida. Mesadenus polyanthus (syn: Spiranthes polyantha
Reichenbach f.) is the more frequently used name for
these plants, and M. lucayanus (syn. Spiranthes lucayana
(Britton) Cogniaux ex Urban) placed in synonymy. After
extensive examination of herbarium material at the
Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames at the Harvard
University Herbaria of M. polyanthus I am satisfied that
there are indeed two species and that the only species to
be found in Florida is M. lucayanus.
From notes taken at AMES, August 2000:

All of the high elevation, above 1600m - 6000+ m, plants are
strikingly the same and labeled Mesadenus polyanthus. They are
large and robust with a very thick scape (to 1 cm), with very
prominent, divergent, stem bracts averaging 3.5 x 0.8 cm. These
were one of the most noticeable features as compared to M.
lucayanus of lowlands and West Indies and Florida which has a
much more slender scape and appressed bracts. The
inflorescence on all of the M. polyanthus was 'rat-tailed' and very
congested, full and completely surrounded the stem unlike the
plants seen in Florida which, although they are slightly spiraled,
the arrangement is loose and all of the flowers are on one side of
the stem. There were several specimens from "lava fields at
7300'" which all had long-petioled leaves. Most of the habitats
noted were rocky, near xeric areas. Plants of M. polyanthus varied
from 30 - 95! cm in height.
Florally, the flowers of Mesadenus polyanthus were much
larger overall than those of M. lucayanus and the sepals were long-
attenuate so as to give them a spidery look. Colors noted varied
335
FROM FLORIDA 8.
from green to yellow to copper so that really does not count for
much. As to the lip shape: if the lip is ovate-oblong on M.
lucayanus then it is clearly lanceolate on M. polyanthus. I examined
the lips on 29 M. polyanthus specimens and they were very
consistent and all were lanceolate and very slightly dilated at the
base, whereas I examined the lips of 12 M. lucayanus specimens
and they had more or less ovate-oblong lips - not as consistent as
polyanthus but certainly not like the M. polyanthus specimens.
Excellent photographs of the types of both were at AMES.
In summary:
Plants robust to 75+ cm high and inflorescence 1 cm+ thick; lip
lanceolate to 7.5 mm long; lateral sepals spreading, slender, long-
acuminate to 1 cm long; lower stem bracts c. 3.5 - 7.5 cm,
spreading; plants of high elevations in north central Mexico
(1600-6300 m) growing in exposed rocky areas and lava
flows….M. polyanthus
Plants slender to 50+ cm tall and inflorescence 5 mm thick; lip

ovate-oblong to oblanceolate up to 6.5 mm long; lateral sepals 4 -
6.5 mm long, falcate, lower stem bracts c. 0.5 - 2.5 cm, loosely
appressed to stem; plants of scrub forest to 150 m, in Florida in
Quercus/Juniperus limestone woodlands and shell mounds at
lowest elevations…..M. lucayanus.
Tipularia discolor forma viridifolia P.M. Brown,

forma nov.
TYPE: United States: Florida. Marion County.
November 2000. (Holotype: N. A. Nat. Orchid J. 6(4):
438, plate 4(c).
Forma viridis in superficiebus ambabus folii conspeicibus diversa
336
FROM FLORIDA 8.
Differing from typical Tipularia discolor in having the

leaves green on both sides.
Although the intensity of purple on the leaves of

Tipularia can vary even within a population, few plants
occur that have leaves entirely lacking in purple
pigmentation. The Marion County plants represent the
species at the southern limit of it range.
Bletia purpurea forma alba (Ariza-Julia & J.

Jiménez Alm.) P.M. Brown status nov.
Basionym: Bletia purpurea var. alba Ariza-Julia & J.
Jiménez Alm. Rhodora 62: 236. 1960.
To maintain consistency, color forms are being

recognized at the forma level, rather than at the varietal
level.
Lophiaris maculata forma flavovirens (P.M. Brown)

P.M. Brown comb. nov.
Basionym: Oncidium undulatum forma flavovirens P.M.
Brown N. A. Nat. Orchid J. 1(2): 132. 1995.
The recognition of the genus Lophiaris for the mule-
eared oncidiums requires a new combination for the
forma.
Epidendrum magnoliae var. mexicanum (L.O.

Williams) P. M. Brown comb. nov.
Basionym: Epidendrum conopseum var. mexicanum L. O.
Williams. Ceiba 2: 152. 1951
337
FROM FLORIDA 8.
With the recognition of Epidendrum magnoliae A.

Richard as the prior name of Epidendrum conopseum (see
Hágsater NANOJ 6(2): 299) a new combination is
necessary for the variety mexicanum. Hágsater (pers.
comm.) is not totally satisfied that the plants in Florida
are the same as Williams' Mexican plants (or that the
var. mexicanum sensu Williams is a valid taxon), but in
recognizing var. mexicanum in Florida (Brown, NANOJ
5(1):3) I concluded that the Floridian plants met
Williams' description and matched his type. Hágsater
feels that these plants need further analyses to
determine if they represent var. mexicanum or an
undescribed taxon. At this time I am proposing the
transfer to prevent these very distinctive Floridian
plants from falling back into synonymy.
338
Brown: A NEW COMBINATION IN POGONIA
A NEW COMBINATION IN POGONIA

Paul Martin Brown
Fernald's description of Pogonia ophioglossoides

variety brachypogon has often been a puzzlement to
botanists as they have searched for plants in the type
locality in Nova Scotia. Although Pogonia can easily be
found, no plants conforming to Fernald's description
have subsequently been found. His noting of the short,
knobby beard and caespitose habit of the plants
appeared to be very distinctive. In recent years I have
found plants in both New Hampshire and Maine that
conform to Fernald's description. These plants were
growing in wet gravels, both in disturbed areas. The
plants were very distinctive. This difference in the
morphology and habit appear to be more one of an
adaptation to habitat and nutrients than one of a
permanent genetic change. This condition appears
rather frequently in several other species in
Northeastern North America. Platanthera orbiculata forma
lehorsii and P. hookeri forma abbreviata are two examples.
These ecological-induced variations are best treats as
forma rather than varieties. I proposed the following
transfer:
Pogonia ophioglossoides (L.) Juss. forma
brachypogon (Fernald) P.M. Brown stat. nov.
Basionym: Pogonia ophioglossoides (L.) Juss. variety brachypogon
Fernald, Rhodora 23: 245. 1922.
339
BOOK REVIEW:
Native Orchids of the Southern Appalachian
Mountains
Stanley L. Bentley
University of North Carolina Press
235 pages. $39.95 cloth, $24.95 paper
ISBN 0-8078-4872-7
This long-awaited book by Stan Bentley brings

no disappointments. The informative narrative both
educates and delights the reader. Bentley's details for
each species cover a wide range of topics including the
natural history of the species as well as the technical
aspects. His photography is superb and the
reproduction appears faithful. Although nothing
appears to be lacking in the species accounts, it could
only be wished that there were more information on
each species, as Bentley's style is so readable. The work
is the first general publication of information on
Corallorhiza bentleyi, named for the author, with full color
illustrations and the interesting hybrid Liparis xjonesii. I
only have two criticisms of the book and the primary
one is that of the publishers choice to put the page
number in the inside gutter where they are very difficult
to use. A curious design decision! The other is that
Cypripedium calceolus is given as a synonym for Cypripedium
parviflorum. It is not; it is a misapplied name for the
plants in North America.
This is a volume that all orchid enthusiasts will want for
their library and will continue to use for many years.
PMB
340
CHANTICLEER FOUNDATION FUNDS

Flora of North America
An update on Volume 26 that contains the Orchidaceae
The Flora of North America (FNA) project received the

outstandingly good news in January 2000, that the Chanticleer
Foundation of Wayne, Pennsylvania, had approved a major grant
to support the production of the Flora. The Foundation has
committed $432,000 for the year 2000, with the expectation that
funding at that level, contingent on the publication of two
volumes of the Flora per year, will continue for six years, for a
total of nearly $3 million.
Members of the FNA community are very grateful to

Chanticleer Garden director Christopher Woods, whose vision
and leadership made this grant possible. This may the first time
that a foundation created to support a botanical garden has
agreed to fund a major botanical research project in which it is
not itself programmatically involved.
On 18 March the FNA Management Committee met with

Mr. Woods to review the conditions of the grant, to determine
the most effective way to apply the funds to achieve the goals set
forth in the award and to prioritize work on the next several
volumes. It was determined that Volume 26, because of its
advanced state of preparation, will be the first volume to go to
press since the grant was received. Volume 26 contains the
Liliales and Orchidales and is being readied for publication at
the FNA editorial center at the Hunt Institute for Botanical
Documentation in Pittsburgh. Although it was hoped that the
volume would be sent to the publisher by the end of this year, it
has recently become clear that this will not be possible.
341
Significant progress has already been made, however, with only a

few treatments still outstanding, and the volume is expected to be
ready for publication in early 2001.
In addition to supporting the Chanticleer Garden, the

Chanticleer Foundation provides support for important local and
regional horticultural activities and was seeking to support a
horticultural and educational project of national and international
significance. After several years of discussion between Nancy
Morin and Chris Woods, Flora of North America was selected to
fulfill this goal. Many of the plants treated in FNA are important
horticulturally, while others are relatives of cultivated plants, have
potential for ornamental horticulture, or contain genetic material
that may be important in developing new horticultural varieties.
More information on Chanticleer can be found at

http://www.chanticleergarden.org.
Dr. David E. Boufford, Lead Editor, Taxon Editor, Northeast

Regional Coordinator
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138-2020
(617) 495-0794; boufford@oeb.harvard.edu
Note:
Some NANOA members who are contributing to the Orchidaceae
include Lawrence Magrath, Charles J. Sheviak, Paul Martin
Brown, Ron Coleman and John Beckner.
342
7th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE

ORCHID CONFERENCE
May 17-20, 2002
Greensboro, North Carolina
Although North Carolina was originally

scheduled for 2001, due to a conflict the site of
the conference had to be changed. One of our
members, Mark Rose and has taken the situation
full on and completely arranged a conference for
2002. Save these dates now and plan to be with
us.
The conference will be held in Greensboro

which is conveniently located in central North
Carolina. With field trips to both the Green
Swamp, near Wilmington, NC and then to the
mountains we have the potential to seen well
over a dozen species in full flower including the
spectacular rosebud orchids, Cleistes divaricata and
C. bifaria.
Full details will appear in the September 2001 issue

of the Journal.
343
Captions for Figure 1 (opposite on page 345):
a: P. aquilonis. Clinton Co., New York. Sheviak 2011a

[NYS]
b: P. huronensis. Warren Co., New York. Sheviak 2397
[NYS]
c: P. hyperborea. Reykjavik, Iceland. Guðfinnsson s.n.
[ICEL]
d-e: P. aquilonis. Brooks Range, Alaska. Sheviak &
Sheviak 5474 [NYS] Note the very low anther with the
anther sacs nearly horizontal and very wide-spreading
from apices in virtual contact. Note also in ‘e’ a
pollinium hanging loose from one anther sac.
f: P. huronensis. Gilpin Co., Colorado. Sheviak, Sheviak
& Pyrzynski 6281b [NYS]. Note the high anther with
clearly separated anther sacs only slightly diverging.
g: P. hyperborea. Grasbali, Iceland. Egilsson s.n. [ICEL].
Note broad lip and high anther (behind overlapping
petal) with anther sacs appearing nearly parallel in this
specimen.
h: P. hyperborea. Reykjavik, Iceland. Guðfinnsson s.n.
[ICEL] (same specimen as in ‘c’).
344
Brown: A NEW
Color Plate COMBINATION
1 - Sheviak: Platanthera IN POGONIA
345
Color Plate 2 – Pelchat:: Spiranthes parksii
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
346
Color Plate 3 – Pelchat:: Spiranthes parksii
Figure 6
Figure 5
Figure 7
Fig. 1. Blackland Prairies to the west and the Pineywoods to

the east
Fig. 2-3 S. parksii
Fig. 4 S. cernua typical
Fig. 5 S. cernua “cleistapogamic” race
Fig. 6 S. parksii exhibiting peloria
Fig. 7: S. parksii; spike basal rosettes
Photographs by Cliff Pelchat
347
Color Plate 4 - Brown: Sacoila, Tipularia, Pogonia
top left:
Sacoila squamulosa
top right:
Tipularia discolor
forma viridifolia
7
bottom left::
Pogonia
ophioglossoides
forma brachypogon
348

December 2000 North American Native Orchid Journal

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December 2000 North American Native Orchid Journal

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NORTH AMERICAN

NATIVE ORCHID JOURNAL

a quarterly devoted to the orchids of North America

The Journal welcomes articles, of any length, of both a scientific

2000 Membership in the North American Native Orchid Alliance,

This final issue of 2000 contains a wide variety of

We will start off 2001 in March with an issue

Several new books on the orchids of North

Work continues on the Volume 26 of the

Paul Martin Brown, editor

mid-May - late September:

POLLINATORS OF THE WESTERN PRAIRIE

The western prairie fringed orchid, Platanthera

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Red

A tall-grass prairie meadow interspersed with

There is considerable variation in the plants

Those who attended the 1998 NANOA

advised of a research project just underway, to

This project is being carried out under the

In 1994, prior to this study, approximately 290

In designing the research project the following factors

- In Manitoba populations seed set was found

Methods used in this study include:

Visual observations – visual observation was used to

Cone traps – these traps are placed directly over the

Malaise traps - this trap is designed in an H pattern. The

Light traps - until now, these light traps were used to

the region and have been used only where an electrical

Day-glow powder – this powder fluoresces under a UV

Insects collected from Powder trials

Insects collected with powder -

As you can see several insects did show evidence

Counts of moths with pollinia and/or powder -

1997 1998 1999

Apart from the Galium moth, none of the insects

Number of species of macro moths collected in

1997 1998 1999

Several species were collected in fairly high numbers,

Sphinx moth flight period

1997 1998 1999

July 2 July 4 July 7

Sphinx drupiferium July 1 July 13-20 n.a.

Again note flight periods for Wild Cherry Sphinx and

- two species of sphinx moth have been

Lorne G. Heshka, 1204 de Graff Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba

THE GENUS HEXALECTRIS IN THE

The genus Hexalectris consists of seven species of

The crested coral root, Hexalectris spicata/a,

Hexalectris spicata var. arizonica, a new variety of

Hexalectris nitida, the Glass Mountain coral root,

Hexalectris grandiflora, giant coralroot, is

spp.) and Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) in Texas,

Hexalectris warnockii is the most frequent and

beds. It grows in leaf mulch under oak, madrone, and

Joe Liggio, 623 Woodland, Houston, TX 77009 JOE

SPIRANTHES PARKSII CORRELL –

Spiranthes parksii, the Navasota ladies’-tresses,

along with Correll searched for the plants on 2 different

region of East Texas. The Post Oak Savannah is a

Within this range Spiranthes parksii is found

1 See Color Plates 2 & 3, pages 345-347.

the open grassy areas near woods and along drainages

to differentiate between species in the field. The