ORCHIDACEiE 



in his deductions. Under Platanthera he wrote, in reference to 

 the recognition by Robert Brown of a section based on the 

 anthers: "The genus has to depend upon another distinction, 

 to which I can discover no exception , namely, to the absence of 

 the fleshy processes of the lower hp of the stigma. Otherwise 

 Platanthera is the same as Habenariay Yet in his discussion of 

 Gymnadenia we find the following, which in conjunction with 

 his remarks on Platanthera is of more than casual interest: "It 

 is scarcely possible to find any very precise limits between this 

 genus and Platanthera. . . . Even the stigmatic processes ofHa- 

 henaria and its allies are to be remarked in almost every species 

 of Gymnadenia; only in most cases in adhesion with the stigma 

 itself." If we examine the distribution of species among the sev- 

 eral genera Lindley admitted in his work, we shall find incon- 

 sistencies, the most astonishing being those where he places the 

 same species in two genera. The difficulties under which he 

 worked may excuse such sUps, but at the same time it is quite 

 pardonable to use this example to illustrate the dangers into 

 which fine distinctions may lead, and as an argument against 

 segregation of genera based on trivial or obscure characters.^ 



Among the subgenera of Habenaria which have the best 

 claims for recognition, if we are to rely on the authority of 

 Lindley, Pfitzer and Kriinzlin, Gymnadenia, Platanthera, Peri- 

 stylus and Cceloglossum occupy an important place. If we study 

 these genera, not as convenient categories, but as systematic 

 groups and examine carefully the species distributed among 

 them, the first incongruous discovery will be the lack of agree- 

 ment as to what species they should contain. This diversity is of 

 a nature to discourage any effort to uphold a single one of these 



1 It is of interest to note that Kranzlin refers to the synonyms of Platanthera fuscescens 

 the following species which Lindley regarded distinct from each other : Platanthera her- 

 biola, Peristylus virescetis, Perularla flava. 



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