1906] Ames, Spiranthes ovalis 1^ 



green upper portion of the rachis, the distant pinnae, and more espe- 

 cially in the 3 parted lower pinnae.^ 



The dimensions of our plant fairly approximate those given by 

 Ascherson and Graebner (1. c), but the Lugano form described by 

 Dr. Christ exceeds those dimensions by about one third, the fronds 

 reaching a length of 15 cm. as seen in the fine figure published by that 

 author. 



Our plant, however, differs from the European forms already pub- 

 lished in having the lower ])innae more deeply lobed or even divided, 

 and this inclined me at first to treat it as a distinct form, but in 

 view of the well known disposition on the part of hybrids to produce 

 all manner of deviations, and the existence of certain other deviations 

 in the European forms, it has seemed best to regard all such devi- 

 ations as of minor importance and to recognize only the one 

 combination. 



Mr. Woolson is to be congratulated on his interesting discovery, 

 which adds new evidence of the unity of the American and European 

 fern floras. It should also be a spur to fern-students and encourage 

 them to search carefully for other fern treasures that lie hidden await- 

 ing only the advent of some keen eyed observer to bring them out into 

 the light. 



Medford, Massachusetts. 



SPIRANTHES OVALIS. 



Oakes Ames. 



In 1840, Dr. John Lindley published the description of a new spe- 

 cies of Spiranthes collected by Drummond in Texas and in allusion 

 to the oval form of the inflorescence called it S. ovalis. From that 

 time on the specific name was not taken up by American botanists 

 and at present is not applied to any American species in our botanical 

 publications. The explanation of this is perhaps simple, as S. ovalu 

 is one of the rarest of the Spiranthes species which are natives of the. 

 United States, and as the description in Lindley's Genera and Species 

 of Orchidaceous Plants is a wholly inadequate characterization. 



»A print from one of Mr. Woolson's specimens since seen, shows at least one of the 

 lower pinnae not only with three distinct lobes, but with the outer lobe becoming agam 

 .slightly 3-lobed. 



