the South and Southwest. The specimen in Lindley’s 
herbarium at Kew which represents Platanthera herbiola 
Lindl. is comparable to the form with congested racemes 
not uncommon in the New England states...” 
It now seems best to recognize two variants in this spe- 
cies, based not only on distribution and the difference in 
habit but also on floral differences. The typical form, 77. 
flava, is primarily southern in distribution. The more 
northern variant, based on Platanthera herbiola, has in 
the past been recognized by some authors as Habenaria 
flava var. virescens (Muhl. ex Willd.) Fernald. However, 
as pointed out below, Orchis virescens Muhl. ex Willd., 
upon which the above combination is based, is doubtless 
referable to Hi. viridis var. bracteata. 
Habenaria flava (L.) R. Brown in Sprengel Syst. 
Veg. 8 (1826) 691. 
Orchis flava Linnaeus Sp. Pl. (1753) 942. 
Orchis bidentata Elliott Sketch Bot. S.C. and Ga, 2 
(1824) 488. 
Orchis scutellata Nuttall in Trans. Am. Phil. Soe. n.s. 
5 (1834) 161. 
Platanthera fava Lindley Gen. & Sp. Orch, Pl. (1835) 
293. 
Platanthera fuscescens Krinzlin Orch, Gen. & Sp. 1 
(1899) 637, 948, in part as to Am. syn. 
Perularia bidentata Small F]. Southeastern U.S. ed. 
2 (1913) 814. 
Perularia scutellata Small Fl. Southeastern U.S. ed. 
2 (1913) 314. 
Perularia flava Schlechter in Fedde Repert. 16 (1919) 
286, as to name only. 
The type of Orchis flava, from Virginia, in the Lin- 
naean Herbarium (examined by Ames) is a plant, the 
lower part of which is missing, with a solitary leaf and a 
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