Serapias Helleborine in Buffalo and Vicinity 



Charles A. Zenkert 



No mention is made of Serapias Helleborine L., under any of 

 the names formerly employed, in the catalogue of "The Plants 

 of Buffalo and Its Vicinity" published by David F. Day in 

 April 1882, but in the preface to the first supplement the follow- 

 ing is recorded with evident satisfaction: "Probably the most 

 interesting addition now made to our list of plants is of that 

 remarkable orchid Epipactis Helleborine Irm., found within the 

 limits of our city, in July, 1882: — its second discovery in 

 America."* 



Today, fully forty-seven years after, Serapias Helleborine is 

 still thriving in Buffalo on the very site of its original discovery. 

 Furthermore, a mile or more from this station and still within 

 the city limits, this "remarkable orchid" has succeeded, to no 

 small extent, in escaping the fate of so many other wild plants 

 that have vanished in the wake of population increase and real 

 estate development; in fact, it has here survived, in some 

 instances, under conditions so adverse as almost to bid defiance 

 to some of our most common and aggressive weeds. 



Elsewhere in Erie County, in the wooded tracts and in more 

 natural surroundings, it grows rather widely distributed under 

 diversified soil conditions. It is easily the most common of our 

 orchids. The plant is known to occur also in some of the adja- 

 cent counties, although these have been less thoroughly ex- 

 plored. 



In the catalogue part of the supplement already referred to, 

 the original Buffalo discovery is recorded as follows: 



"Epipactis Helleborine, var. viridens Irm. 

 "Near Scajauquady's Creek, Buffalo:- — The second known 

 station of the species on the American continent. Here 

 first found by Miss Edna M. Porter, July 1882. Equivalent, 

 according to Gray, to E. latifolia 



Thereupon follows a generic description of Epipactis tran- 

 scribed from Watson's Botany of California, as well as a specific 

 description of the plant as found in Buffalo. The concluding 

 paragraph is significant: 



* Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Vol. IV, p. 256. 



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