122 ORCHIDACEM 



A SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS SPIRANTHES 

 NORTH OF MEXICO 



The following synopsis of the genus Spirantlies as it occurs in 

 the United States will, it is hoped, clear away some of the difficul- 

 ties experienced in the study of the species. It is not intended that 

 this synopsis should stand as an exhaustive research, but rather as 

 a contribution towards clarification in a genus at present encum- 

 bered with perplexing problems which have arisen from negU- 

 gence of types and a misunderstanding of diagnostic values. 

 Although the synonomy is more involved than here shown, I have 

 considered a brief treatment advisable, as it is my intention to give 

 a more detailed account of my investigations in a future paper. 



The first specific name of each species under the correct generic 

 interpretation, whenever this could be determined with reasonable 

 surety, or employed without leading to complications, has been 

 revived. The process by which I have arrived at my conclusions 

 is indicated by the citations of literature under each species. A 

 mere compilation of synonomy has been avoided as extremely 

 unsafe, especially in Spiranthes ; and except in those cases where 

 brief descriptions were the only clue to the identity of doubtful 

 species, every citation has been verified and the plant indicated 

 studied from herbarium material or from plates. 



In his Revisio Generum Plantarum, Otto Kuntze affords us a 

 startling example of the dangers which surround a purely literary 

 investigation of plant synonomy. In his reference of S. tortilis, 

 Rich., to Oi^lirys peruviana, Aublet, he has apparently followed 

 the synonomy which John Lindley gave under S. tortilis in the 

 Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, without consulting the 

 plate in Plumier's Plantarum Americanum to which Aublet referred 

 Ophrys peruviana. Again, Spiranthes Beckii, Lindl., is made 

 by Kuntze synonymous with Liynodorum prcecox, Walter, the 

 only basis for such a conclusion being the synonomy employed by 



