PLATANTHERA FIMBRIATA. 



GREAT FRINGED ORCHIS. 



NATURAL ORDER, ORCHIDACE^. 



PLATANTHERA FiMBPaATA, R. Br. — Lower leaves oval or oblong, the upper few passing into 

 lanceolate bracts ; spike or raceme oblong, loosely flowered ; lower sepals ovate, acute ; 

 petals oblong, toothed down the sides ; divisions of the pendent large lip fan-shaped, 

 more fringed. (Gray's Manual of the BotaJiy of the Northern United States. See also 

 Wood's Class-Book of Botany, under the name of P. Bigelovii.) 



HE early American botanists found great difficulty in 

 _^ studying orchideous plants. Muhlenberg, one of the 



earliest, writing to William Bartram in 1792, says to him that 

 he could never satisfy himself about Orchis, Op/ijys, and some 

 other genera which he mentions, because, as he continues, " they 

 are so badly described in some, and have too many species in 

 others. I intend to transcribe my descriptions for your perusal 

 and criticism by and by, and hope you will assist me in clearing 

 up some of the rubbish." We in modern times, when we have 

 so large a list of names to choose from, can appreciate the labors 

 and troubles of our forefathers, for in the cases of most Orchids 

 there are long lists of synonymous names which have been given 

 to the same thing by different authors at various times. With the 

 botanists of the past age our plant was Orchis fi^nbriata, and since 

 that time it is Platanthera fimbriata, or Habenaria fimbriata, 

 according to the different views of authors, setting aside other 

 names not so well known. The modern distinction from the 

 true Orchis consists chiefly in the anthers being covered by a 

 pouch in the latter genus, while in Habenaria or Platanthera 

 they are naked, as we may see in our enlarged Fig. 4. Dr. Gray, 

 to whom we have made our leading reference, unites Platanthera 



