INTRODUCTION 
The last review of the Spiranthinae at the generic level was 
published by Schlechter in 1920 (Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 37, pt. 2: 
317-454). At that time Schlechter gave an extensive historical 
background of the development of the various generic bound- 
aries, including those which he himself set up as new. Conse- 
quently these details are not repeated here. Schlechter summarized 
his findings in a key accounting for 24 genera which he grouped 
on the basis of the structure of the rostellum and viscidium into 
four separate alliances. His new treatment, at first, was well 
received, but the enthusiasm it generated soon started to wither, 
especially along the American frontier, as the assignment of the 
various species underwent scrutinous evaluations. Perhaps the 
most convincing effort to discredit Schlecter’s work was pub- 
lished by Ames in 1922 (Orchid.7: 127-129) where he argued 
a seemingly contradicting evidence found in Spiranthes novaeze- 
landiae. The flowers in this latter species do not exhibit a well- 
defined rostellum, yet Schlechter included it in the genus Spiran- 
thes, which is characterized, among others, by a bifid or 
bidentate, sharp-pointed rostellum. Of course, in 1922, the 
taxonomists were not used to thinking in terms of autogamous 
populations of which §. novaezelandiae is a clear-cut repre- 
sentative. As a matter of fact, autogamy is a very common 
phenomenon in the entire Spiranthes-related complex. The 
recently described S. hongkongensis is another typical example. 
Admittedly I was also supporting Ames’ approach, until I had 
a chance to investigate the whole complex on my own. What 
truly disturbed me, however, was the fact that Schlechter did not 
account for a number of described species, including some of his 
own, on the one hand, while on the other hand due to erroneous 
observations he assigned a number of species to the wrong 
genera. One of these species was Spiranthes obliqua J. J. Sm. 
from Java. It was discovered in the Bogor Botanical Garden 
associated with Carludovica sp. J. J. Smith published excellent 
drawings of the floral details, all of which clearly have shown 
that this particular binomial is not referable to the genus 
Spiranthes in the strict sense. Until recently nothing more was 
278 
