Aiken County, South Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas 
as the southernmost boundary, with a blooming season 
extending from July to September. 
When growing wild, Spiranthes gracilis var. floridana 
may be recognized by the yellowish hue of the rachis and 
floral bracts and in having the central part of the lip yel- 
low rather than green as in S. gracilis. The lip is variable 
in outline and length, ranging from 8-5 mm. long and 
varying from pandurate to narrowly oblong, the apical 
portion being conspicuously denticulate and variously 
fluted on the margin. 
The variety exhibits greater variation than the species, 
ranging from 1-4 dm. or more in height, with the flow- 
ers 83-5 mm. long. The flowers in their arrangement vary 
from quaquaversal to secund. As is true of the typical 
species in the extreme North, flowers and leaves are usu- 
ally present simultaneously. In their venation and tex- 
ture the leaves of specimens from Florida, Canada and 
New England are very much alike and arouse the sus- 
picion that the differences in foliar texture between vari- 
ants of S. gracilis emphasized by Professor Fernald in 
‘*Rhodora’’ (48 (1946) 8, t. 9938, fig. 6; 994, fig. 5) are 
the exception rather than the rule and are surely not of 
taxonomic significance. 
Wherry gave the date of the earliest record for the 
discovery of the variety as 1834, depending on specimens 
collected by Burrows at Tampa Bay, Florida. In estab- 
lishing this record he overlooked Drummond’s speci- 
mens (no. 332) (a component of Spiranthes Becki 
Lindl.) from New Orleans, collected in 1832. 
Until 1905, S. gracilis var. floridana remained one of 
the rarest of our Spiranthes. In that year, collecting for 
me in Dade and Lee Counties, Florida, A. A. Eaton 
found an abundance of specimens, blooming in February 
and March. After prolonged study, during which two 
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