Vol. XIX pp. 1-2 January 29, 1906 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 





NOTES ON ORCHIDS NEW TO FLORIDA. 

 BY OAKKS AMES. 



Since the publication oi my paper entitled Additions to the 

 Orchid Flora of Florida " which appeared' in these proceedings 

 on pages 115-117 of Vol. XVII, several species have come to 

 hand Avhich have never been reported as natives of Florida. 

 Four of them belong to genera new to the United States. All 

 are of \V^est Indian origin, as far as it is possible to ascertain — 

 an interesting fact in view of the peculiarly West Indian char- 

 acter of the Floridian orchid flora. With one exception, all of 

 these orchids were collected by Mr. A. A. Eaton in 1904 and 

 1905. 



Pleurothallis gelida Lindl. 



Ten miles northeast of Everglade, Lee County, March 23-26, 1905, A. A. 

 Eaton, No. 1401. The plants at the time they were found were not in 

 flower, but subsequently, in December, 1905, produced flowers under culti- 

 vation. P. gdlda Lindl. belongs to the section Spalhaceae. The coria- 

 ceous leaves often exceed 14 cm. in length ; the deliciously scented flowers 

 are yellowish, pilose-hairy, and from 7 to 8 mm. long, in an upright raceme. 

 The lip is cuneate, bicarinate. P. imivnginata Lindl., which is closely 

 allied to P. gelida, and might readily be mistaken for it, has smaller flowers 

 and lacks the two longitudinal carinae on the lip. This is the first species 

 o{ Pleurothallw which has been found in Florida. 



Vanilla phaeantha Rchb. f. 



Fahkahatcliie Cypress, Lee County, June 10, 1904, A. A. Eaton, No. 

 1129. Probably the Vanilla phnifolia Andr. of Chapman's Flora. The 

 species of Vanilla are very difficult to study from herbarium material, as 

 most of the large collections are scrappy, insufficient and quite unsatis- 

 factory. I have compared Eaton's No. 1129 with authentic material at 

 Kew and can discover no differences which would invalidate my determi- 

 nation. T'. phaeantha Rchb. f. and V. Eggersii Rolfe appear to l)e the only 

 representatives in Florida of the genus Vanilla. 



1— Pi!OC. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XIX, 1906. (1) 



