1921] Ames, — Notes on New England Orchids, — I. Spiranthes 83 



the front part of the lip and such minor characters are inconsequen- 

 tial as distinguishing marks of a species in Spiranthes. Varying 

 lengths of the inflorescence, and different degrees of slenderness or 

 stoutness of the stems are of no diagnostic value in the separation of 

 Floridian and Bahaman plants from specimens of West Indian origin ; 

 all extremes being present in any extensive series of specimens from 

 the same locality and readily accounted for by the remarks made 

 above on variation due to age of plants. In my opinion Spiranthes 

 Amesiana is conspecific with S. tortilis. 



2. Spiranthes oralis Lindl. In RHODORA VIII (1906) 6-7, I pub- 

 lished the results of my studies of this interesting species which John 

 Lindley described from material gathered in Texas by Drummond. 

 It would seem that Schlechter overlooked this publication in the 

 preparation of his monograph of the Spiranthea? as he refers S. 

 oralis to the realm of doubtful species. When I prepared my Syn- 

 opsis of the Genus Spiranthes North of Mexico for the first fascicle 

 of Orchidacese I was not acquainted with Lindley's type of Spir- 

 anthes oralis and I treated it as a doubtful species. Subsequently 

 I examined the type, which is preserved in the Hookerian Herbarium 

 at Kew, and concluded that it is the same as S. cernua var. parvi- 

 fiora Chapm., Gyrostachys pannflora Small and S. parviflora Ames 

 (non Lindl.). Schlechter proposes the new name S. Smallii for S. 

 pannflora Ames. 



3. Spiranthes plantaginea (Raf.) Torr. Fl. New York II (1843) 

 284, not Lindl. 



Neottia plantaginea Raf. in Amer. Month. Mag. II (1818) 206. 



Neottia lucida H. H. Eaton, Transyl. Journ. Med. 5 (1832) 107. 



Spiranthes cernua var. latifolia Torr. Comp. (1826) 320. 



Spiranthes latifolia Torr. ex. Lindl. Orch. PI. (1840) 467. 



Spiranthes aestivalis Oakes in Thomp. Hist. Vermont (1842) 200, 

 not Rich. 



Gyrostachys latifolia Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. pt. 2 (1891) 664. 



Gyrostachys plantaginea Britton and Brown, 111. Fl. I (1896) 470, 

 fig. 1122, not Kuntze. 



Spiranthes lucida Ames, Orehidacese II (1908) 258. 



Ibidium piantagineum House in Bull. Torr. Bot. CI. XXXII (1905) 

 381. 



As Schlechter transfers Lindley's Spiranthes plantaginea to Cyclo- 

 pogon, Torrey's S. plantaginea must be reinstated, and supplants 

 Spiranthes lucida in Gray's New Manual. 



