A SPURLESS VARIETY OF HABENARIA PSYCODES 
(L.) SW. 
MARY M. BRYAN 
Formerly Graduate Student in the Henry Shaw School of Botany of 
Washington University 
For several years a certain colony of orchids has been 
observed near Bay View, Michigan, by Dr. Chas. H. Swift of 
the University of Chicago, which, on account of the marked 
variation in the flower and the apparent constancy of one 
form, has prompted a critical examination of all available 
material of related species, as well as a review of the litera- 
ture pertaining to the general subject of variation in the genus 
Habenaria. Of the three specimens from the above locality, 
which were secured by Dr. Swift and now preserved in the 
herbarium of the Missouri Botanical Garden, one accords in 
every detail with typical specimens of Habenaria psycodes 
(L.) Sw.; that is to say, the labellum is distinctly 3-lobed, and 
the lobes are fringed to less than one-third their length, the 
terminal lobe being somewhat emarginate; the petals are more 
or less denticulate, and the spur about equals the ovary (pl. 5, 
fig. A). 
A somewhat intermediate condition as to floral structure 
is shown by the second of the three specimens (fig. B), the 
variations being as follows: the labellum is broadly emargi- 
nate and wedge-shaped in outline, and the lateral lobes are 
entirely wanting; the petals are entire, and the spur is con- 
siderably shorter than the ovary. Moreover, the flowers of 
the spike are extremely variable in respect to margin of lip 
and length of spur. 
This form may be designated as: 
Habenaria psycodes (L.) Sw., formal var. varians, n. var. 
Petalis lateralibus integris; labello cuneato late emarginato 
haud trilobato; caleari quam ovario breviore. — Near Bay 
View, Michigan, July, 1913, Dr. Charles H. Swift (Mo. Bot. 
Gard. Herb. No. 710165), TYPE. 
An extreme variation of the type is shown by the third 
specimen. This differs from Н. psycodes in having an undi- 
ANN, Mo. Вот, GARD., VOL. 4, 1917 (37) 
