120 



" radice tuberosa, caule sesquipedali succulento aphyllo, floribus 

 bracteatis sessilibus alternis spicatim positis, petalis aequalibus 

 ovatis conniventibus flavescentibus striis purpureis, nectario longi- 

 tudine petalorum rugosa subtrilobo, lobis lateralibus brevioribus 

 erectis, colore petalorum, lobo medio purpureo propendente, cap- 

 sula columnari angulare." While the expression " radice tube- 

 rosa " is not very happily chosen, the remainder of the description 

 leaves no room for doubt that the plant intended was the same 

 as that described by Nuttall thirty years later under the name 

 Bletia apJiylla. 



This species was very little known for many years after the 

 pubhcation of Walter's name for it. Meanwhile Muhlenberg had 

 transmitted to Willdenow, under the name Cymbidium hyemale, 

 another orchid from the eastern United States, and Willdenow 

 had published it. Pursh, not knowing Walter's plant, referred it 

 to Cymbidium Jiyemale ; in this way the two became confused in 

 synonymy, and have so continued. In 1888, in accordance with 

 the prevailing misconception, Walter's specific name was restored 

 as the oldest one for the plant since known as Aplcctnim spica- 

 tum (Walt.) B.S.P. 



Since Pursh's time, however, at least one botanist, Elliott, has 

 clearly distinguished the synonymy of the two species involved 

 in this discussion. He unequivocally referred ArctJmsa spicata 

 Walt, to Bletia apJiylla Nutt., and further informs us (Sk. 2 : 

 502) in a note that " this plant has always been considered 

 by our southern botanists as the A. spicata of Walter." P211iott 

 also describes Corallorhiza Jiycmalis Nutt. {Cymbidi7nn hycmalc 

 Muhl.), without any intimation that Arctliusa spicata Walt, has 

 anything to do with it. 



The genus Aplcctnim, and the binomial .Iplcctnim hycmalc, are 

 commonly credited to Nuttall's Genera, but this is a mistake. 

 Nuttall there proposed the name Aplectrum, it is true, but as a 

 subgenus only, and its only species, " hiemalis," is clearly named 

 as his third species of Corallorhiza. h'ive years later, in discussing 

 the genus Corallorhiza, Nuttall * again used the name C. hiemalis, 



♦Nutlall, T. Remarks on the s|)ecies Corallorhiza, indigenous to tlie United 

 States. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 3 : 135-139. O 1823. 



