March 2001 North American Native Orchid Journal

NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE ORCHID JOURNAL

__________________________________
Volume 7 March
Number 1 2001
a quarterly devoted to the orchids of North America

published by the
NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE ORCHID ALLIANCE
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
IN THIS ISSUE:
A STATUS REPORT ON THE NATIVE AND
NATURALIZED ORCHIDACEAE OF COLLIER,
MIAMI-DADE, AND MONROE COUNTIES,
FLORIDA….and more!
The North American Native Orchid Journal (ISSN
1084-7332) is an annual publication devoted to
promoting interest and knowledge of the native
orchids of North America. A limited number of the
print version of each issue of the Journal are available
upon request and electronic versions are available to
all interested persons or institutions free of charge.
The Journal welcomes article of any nature that deal
with native or introduced orchids that are found
growing wild in North America, primarily north of
Mexico, although articles of general interest
concerning Mexican species will welcome.
Requests for either print or electronic copies should

be sent to the editor:
Paul Martin Brown, 10896 SW 90th Terrace, Ocala,
FL 34481 or via email at naorchid@aol.com.
NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE
ORCHID JOURNAL
Volume 7 March
Number 1 2001
CONTENTS
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
1
A STATUS REPORT ON THE NATIVE AND

NATURALIZED ORCHIDACEAE
OF COLLIER, MIAMI-DADE, AND
MONROE COUNTIES, FLORIDA
Roger L. Hammer
3
PHLISTINES
The Slow Empiricist
85
RECENT TAXONOMIC AND

DISTRIBUTIONAL NOTES FROM
FLORIDA 9.
Paul Martin Brown
91
6th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE

ORCHID CONFERENCE
99
LOOKING FORWARD:
June 2001
inside back cover
Unless otherwise credited, all drawings in this issue are by Stan Folsom
Color Plates:
Plate 1, page 105 Epidendrum nocturnum, Polyrrhiza lindenii
Plate 2, page 106 Calopogon multiflorus, Oeceoclades maculata
Plate 3, page 107 Campylocentrum pachyrrhizum, Spiranthes torta
Plate 4, page 108 Bletia purpurea, Galeandra bicarinata
Plate 5, page 109 Habenaria quinqueseta, Eulophia alta
Plate 6, page 110 Cyrtopodium punctatum, Encyclia tampensis
Plate 7, page 111 Oncidium undulatum, Vanilla barbellata
Plate 8, page 112 Vanilla phaeantha, Sacoila lanceolata var. paludicola
Plate 9, page 113 Habenaria odontopetala forma heatonii; Triphora
trianthophora forma caerulea
Plate 10, page 114 Sacoila lanceolata var. paludicola forma aurea
The opinions expressed in the Journal are those of the authors. Scientific
articles may be subject to peer review and popular articles will be
examined for both accuracy and scientific content.
Volume 7, number 1, pages 1-114; issued March 20, 2001.
Copyright 2001 by the North American Native Orchid Alliance, Inc.
Cover: Bulbophyllum pachyrrachis by Stan Folsom
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
It is not often that the Journal can present a

lengthy piece devoted to a single subject. This issue
contains Roger Hammer's extensive work on the
orchids of south Florida. I am sure you will find it
both interesting and informative reading.
As the main thrust of the 2001 orchid season

is coming upon us in many parts of North America,
field work will commence and new discoveries will
be made. Please consider writing an article for the
Journal about your work. I would like to devote the
December issue to a series of "what I did during the
field season" articles. Your writings need not be
lengthy, but will be of interest to all. Deadline for
submission would be October 15th.
The coming year will be of exceptional

interest to all North American orchidists as it will see
the publication of several new books on the subject.
The June issue will have an article by Ron Coleman
on North American native orchid books and notes
on several upcoming publications.
Full information including schedule and

accommodations for the conference in September is
in this issue. Although we will not have as many
1
species to see in flower the primary thrust of the
conference will be education through the speakers'
programs and workshops. I know many of you feel
that all Spiranthes really look alike - here will be an
opportunity to really see them together and learn the
differences. Once you take the time to look at them
carefully they really are very different one from
another. Please remember to send all registrations to
PO Box 759, Acton, Maine 04001.
Paul Martin Brown

Editor
PO Box 772121 Ocala, FL 34477

October - May
PO Box 759
Acton, Maine 04001
Late May - September
2
Hammer: A STATUS REPORT ON THE NATIVE AND
NATURALIZED ORCHIDACEAE OF COLLIER, MIAMI-DADE,
AND MONROE COUNTIES, FLORIDA
A STATUS REPORT ON THE

NATIVE AND NATURALIZED
ORCHIDACEAE
OF COLLIER, MIAMI-DADE, AND
MONROE COUNTIES, FLORIDA
Roger L. Hammer
The purpose of this report is to offer a

comprehensive account of the known status of the
native and naturalized orchids found, or historically
found, in Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe
counties. The categories in which these orchids are
placed do not reflect their status as endangered or
threatened species in the state of Florida, but merely
reflect the author’s opinion regarding how common
these species are in their respective natural habitats
within the range of this report. Some species were
undoubtedly rare when first discovered in Florida
and remain rare today. Collecting and habitat
destruction have both played significant roles in the
demise of many species. This report only addresses
the status of the listed species within the three
southernmost counties in Florida. It is the author’s
sincere hope that this report will give regulatory
3
agencies and concerned orchidophiles a better

understanding of southern Florida’s orchid flora.
The author owes a sincere expression of
gratitude to Keith Bradley, Paul Martin Brown,
George Gann, Chuck McCartney, and Dick
Wunderlin for their contributions to this report.
CATEGORY DEFINITIONS
VERY RARE: Species with extremely small

populations and possibly in imminent danger of
extirpation or extinction.
RARE: Species that are rarely encountered in the
proper habitat, although populations appear to be
stable.
UNCOMMON: Species that are infrequently
encountered, but sometimes locally abundant, in the
proper habitat.
COMMON: Species that are frequently
encountered in the proper habitat.
PRESUMED EXTIRPATED: Species that
historically occurred in Collier, Miami-Dade, and/or
Monroe county but are no longer extant. Some may
still occur elsewhere in the state.
NATURALIZED EXOTICS AND LOCAL
ESCAPES: Non-native species that have either
escaped cultivation or otherwise arrived in Florida
abetted by man. Naturalized exotics are those species
that have invaded native plant communities.
ERRONEOUS REPORTS: Species reported
either in error or as a hoax.
4
Nomenclature and common names generally follow

Wunderlin (1998). Synonyms are listed, where
appropriate, to avoid taxonomic confusion.
VERY RARE
BASIPHYLLAEA CORALLICOLA (Small)
Ames Florida range: Miami-Dade and Monroe
counties. Common name: Carter’s orchid.
J. J. Carter was the first to see this terrestrial
orchid in Florida while traveling by horse-drawn
wagon in 1903 through the pinelands of southern
Miami-Dade County (Long Prairie) with his two
companions, A. A. Eaton and J. K. Small (Correll,
1950). The type specimen was collected in the same
locality by Carter, Eaton, and Small in 1906. Since
those early years this orchid has been seen on
relatively few occasions. In addition to its rarity, it is
diminutive, anthesis is just a few weeks, and it has
the habit of lying dormant through its normal
flowering season, sometimes for years.
Botanist George Avery’s unpublished notes

reveal that Frank Craighead found a small colony of
plants near Osteen Hammock on Long Pine Key in
Everglades National Park sometime before 1971.
These plants disappeared shortly after their
discovery and it was suspected that they were
illegally collected. In September 1982, Everglades
National Park botanist Jim Snyder discovered three
plants in a research transect on Long Pine Key and
these were identified by Avery.
5
Basiphyllaea showed up again in a different

location on Long Pine Key when Alan Herndon
found a single plant in bud in October 1987. In
1988, Herndon also found this species for the first
time in Florida outside of Miami-Dade County in the
pine rocklands of Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida
Keys (Monroe County). During that same year
Chuck McCartney reported this species near Osteen
Hammock in Everglades National Park.
Yet another discovery came in September

1991. While on a field trip with a group studying
grasses, biologist George Gann and others noticed a
number of flowering specimens growing in a pine-
oak ecotone at the Deering Estate, a 400-acre
preserve bordering Biscayne Bay. An extensive
survey of the site by Carol Lippincott and the author
revealed a total of at least 50 plants. This is the
largest population ever discovered in Florida and the
northernmost Florida site as well. Inspections of this
site by the author over the past nine years, however,
have been fruitless.
A small population is also known from a

remnant pine rockland parcel in Naranja (Pine Island
Tract) that is presently owned by the Miami-Dade
School Board. The author observed six plants in
flower at this site in September 1993. There is also a
small population in the vicinity of Deer Hammock
on Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park.
6
Although there are a number of sites in

southern Florida where this species has been
observed, it still should be treated as a very rare
taxon. Its global range includes southern Florida, the
Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
BELOGLOTTIS COSTARICENSIS (Rchb. f.)

Schltr. [Synonymy: Spiranthes costaricensis Rchb. f.]
Florida range: Miami-Dade County. Common
name: Costa Rican ladies’-tresses.
This species was first discovered in Florida in
1953 by John Beckner (Luer, 1972). The plants he
found were growing in a hardwood hammock on
Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park and it is
now known to occur in a number of hammocks
there. Prior to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, it seemed
to be expanding its population within Everglades
National Park. It also historically occurred in a
hammock preserve (Timms Hammock) in southern
Miami-Dade County but this population was
declining prior to Hurricane Andrew and it has not
been seen at that location since the storm. It is most
likely extirpated from Florida outside of Everglades
National Park. Although Luer (1972) states that
“plants are infrequent, small and frail,” and that the
species is “apparently not thriving in this adopted
territory,” during some some years vigorous plants
appear in fair abundance. It is currently known from
at least four hammocks on Long Pine Key.
7
CALOPOGON MULTIFLORUS Lindley

[Synonymy: Limodorum multiflorum (Lindl.) C. Mohr;
Limodorum pinetorum Small]
Florida range: nearly throughout Florida south to
Collier and Miami-Dade counties. Common name:
many-flowered grass-pink.
This species has been known in Florida since
at least 1840. It is a species of pine flatwoods and is
most abundant and noticeable following fire in its
habitat. Donovan Correll had, at one time, relegated
this species as a variety of Calopogon barbatus but, he
later noticed differences in the flower shape and
flowering season and felt that those characters were
sufficient enough to maintain it as a separate species
(Correll, 1950).
There is an old herbarium record of this

species from Miami-Dade County and, more
recently, it was discovered in the Bear Island Unit of
Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County by
Keith Bradley in 1997, and a specimen from this site
has been deposited at the University of Florida
herbarium. Chuck McCartney and the author
photographed plants in this population in March
2000, which were found growing in competition
with grasses in open meadows surrounded by saw
palmetto (Serenoa repens). This is the southernmost
population of Calopogon multiflorus in Florida and the
area should be surveyed following the next fire to
determine the extent of the population. It is more
common northward.
8
CYCLOPOGON ELATUS (Sw.) Schltr.

[Synonymy: Beadlea elata (Sw.) Small ex Britton;
Spiranthes elata (Sw.) Rich.] Florida range:
Hernando (Citrus) and Miami-Dade Counties.
Common name: tall neottia.
Hernando County by A. H. Curtiss in 1881 (Correll,
1950). In 1961, J. A. Lassiter, et al, collected a
herbarium specimen from a “Cutler rocky
hammock.” Luer (1972) reports that a single plant
was also found growing in a hardwood forest in
1961 by John Beckner. Just before the hammock was
to be bulldozed for a subdivision, Luer took the
specimen and flowered it in cultivation for
identification. Another 17 years passed before it was
recognized in Florida again.
Conservation biologist George Gann found a

small colony of unidentified orchids in a hardwood
forest near Kendall Tamiami Airport (Miami-Dade
County) in October 1978. These plants were
inspected again in March 1979 by George Avery,
George Gann, and the author. Of the six plants
present, one was in flower, and it was identified as
Cyclopogon [Spiranthes] elatus. Avery took the
inflorescence and a leaf, which were deposited in the
herbarium at Fairchild Tropical Garden (Avery
#2087). A single plant was seen in the same location
by George Gann in March 1980 but has not been
documented at that site since that date. Vegetatively,
this species closely resembles a more common
9
species, Cyclopogon cranichoides, and the two species

flower during the same season. It is listed in this
report as “Very Rare” but may, indeed, be
extirpated.
ELTROPLECTRIS CALCARATA (Sw.) Garay &

H. R. Sweet [Synonymy: Centrogenium setaceum
(Lindl.) Schltr.; Pelexia setacea Lindl. Florida range:
Highlands and Miami-Dade Counties. Common
name: spurred neottia.
Miami-Dade County in 1905 by A. A. Eaton and was
apparently not seen again until J. B. McFarlin found
it in Highlands County in 1936 (Correll, 1950).
These remain the only two counties in Florida where
it has been reported. In Miami-Dade County, it has
been found in two protected county-owned
preserves and in at least four hammocks on Long
Pine Key in Everglades National Park. Prior to
Hurricane Andrew in 1992, this species appeared to
be undergoing a population expansion within
Everglades National Park, which seems to be
continuing today. Due to hurricane damage, and
perhaps a lowered water table, the populations have
dwindled in the hammocks outside of Everglades
National Park and may no longer be extant. Careful
searches in both areas by the author from January
1998 to December 2000 have been fruitless. Also,
feral hogs are believed to have eradicated this species
from Highlands Hammock State Park in Highlands
10
County and, therefore, this orchid may no longer be

extant in that county.
ENCYCLIA PYGMAEA (Hook.) Dressler

[Synonymy: Epidendrum pygmaeum Hook.; Hormidium
pygmaeum (Hook.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Hemsl.;
Prosthechea pygmaea (Hook.) W. E. Higgins] Florida
range: Collier County. Common name: dwarf
butterfly orchid.
the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County in 1905
by A. A. Eaton (Correll, 1950). The exact location
remained a secret until about 1962 when local
woodsmen began bringing plants out of the swamp
and offering them for sale (Luer, 1972). This species
is extremely local within the Fakahatchee Swamp but
where it does occur, there are relatively large
populations, sometimes covering six feet or more of
the branches on the host tree. Why this species has
not been able to spread to other suitable habitats
within the Fakahatchee Swamp remains a mystery. It
seems to prefer pop ash and pond-apple trees in
deep sloughs. Frank Craighead’s notes reveal that he
attempted to transplant this species into Pine Island
Hammock near the entrance to Everglades National
Park in September 1962, but this translocation effort
failed.
EPIDENDRUM STROBILIFERUM Rchb. f.

[Synonymy: Spathiger strobiliferus (Rchb. f.) Small]
11
Florida range: Collier County. Common name:

Big Cypress star orchid.
This inconspicuous orchid was first
discovered in Florida by Oakes Ames and A. A.
Eaton in 1904 (Correll, 1950). It was found “near
Naples, Collier County,” and today is known only
from the Fakahatchee Swamp and Big Cypress
National Preserve in Collier County. Frank
Craighead’s notes indicate that he made several
attempts to introduce this species into the
hammocks of Long Pine Key in Everglades National
Park in the early 1960s, but these efforts failed. This
species is infrequent in relatively remote sloughs
within the Fakahatchee Swamp.
GALEANDRA BICARINATA G. A. Romero &

P. M. Brown [Galeandra beyrichii Rchb. f., misapplied]
name: helmet orchid.
Although Donovan Correll (1950) gives credit
to Karl O. Kramer for finding this orchid for the
first time in Florida (as Galeandra beyrichii) within
“Costello Hammock” (correctly Castellow
Hammock) in November 1946, Kramer was a
student on a field trip being led by University of
Miami professor Roy Woodbury. It was Woodbury
who collected the first herbarium specimen which is
deposited at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami. No
one saw a specimen again until a fruiting stem was
discovered in the same locality in 1961 (Luer, 1972).
George Avery’s notes mention additional sightings in
12
Castellow Hammock from 1972 through 1976. In

1975, Chuck McCartney, Joyce Gann, and Sally
Black, who were all on a Native Plant Workshop
field trip, found a plant of this species in another
hammock (now a Miami-Dade County preserve)
west of Homestead. Carlyle Luer and the author
found a small colony of flowering specimens in that
same hammock in 1979. Since then, this species has
been found in at least six hammocks on Long Pine
Key in Everglades National Park (Don Keller and
the author, pers. obsv.).
Gustavo Romero-Gonzalez and Paul Martin

Brown published the name Galeandra bicarinata as a
new species from Florida and the Greater Antilles
(Romero-Gonzalez & Brown, 2000).
GOVENIA FLORIDANA P. M. Brown [Govenia

utriculata (Sw.) Lindl., misapplied] Florida range:
Miami-Dade County. Common name: Florida
govenia.
Frank Craighead first discovered this orchid
(as Govenia utriculata) in Florida in 1957 in a
hammock on Long Pine Key in Everglades National
Park (Luer, 1972). Craighead located several dozen
plants spread over about an acre of hammock. There
is a herbarium specimen deposited at Fairchild
Tropical Garden (two fruiting stems) collected by
Craighead on April 10, 1960. The Everglades
National Park herbarium has two collections made
by Craighead, one dated April 22, 1962, and the
13
other dated October 21, 1962. The University of

Florida also has a Craighead specimen dated “Fall
1963.”
In September 1960, Hurricane Donna

severely damaged the hammocks of Long Pine Key
but the orchid colony survived. Shortly after the
hurricane, however, the colony disappeared,
presumably from illegal collecting (Luer, pers.
comm.). Craighead’s notes indicate that he moved a
number of plants into other hammocks on Long
Pine Key. Ruben Sauleda reported finding this
species in 1988 along the edge of Osteen Hammock
on Long Pine Key (at the edge of a solution hole in
pine rockland habitat). A voucher photograph said
to have been taken in Everglades National Park was
deposited by Sauleda in the herbarium at the
University of South Florida. The authenticity of this
photo, however, has been questioned. Although
extensive searches of Everglades hammocks have
been made by a number of knowledgeable botanists,
there were no further confirmed reports of this
species until 2000, when Paul Martin Brown
rediscovered a few immature seedling plants in an
undisclosed location on Long Pine Key. Recent
work on the taxonomy of this species has relegated
Florida material to Govenia floridana and considered
endemic to the state (Brown, 2000). This species is
teetering on the brink of extinction.
14
HABENARIA DISTANS Griseb. Florida range:

Collier, Highlands, and Lee Counties. Common
name: hammock false rein orchid.
This species was first found in Florida in
August 1978 by A. P. Garber in Lee County (Correll,
1950). Luer (1972) states that by 1910 it had not
been recorded in Florida again. Luer photographed
the species in Collier County in September 1960, and
in Highlands County in September 1967. One
population in Collier County is thriving but feral
hogs within Highlands Hammock State Park are a
distinct threat to this, and other, terrestrial orchids. It
also occurs in the Fakahatchee Swamp but is not
listed for Corkscrew Swamp that straddles Collier
and Lee counties. In 1978, a number of illegally-
collected plants were confiscated by John Popenoe
(director of Fairchild Tropical Garden at the time)
and were propagated at the Garden for two years. It
thrived in cultivation and three pots filled with plants
were given to the author, which were returned to
Collier-Seminole State Park in November 1980. That
population has since expanded considerably.
LEPANTHOPSIS MELANANTHA (Rchb. f.)

Ames [Synonymy: Lepanthes harrisii Fawc. & Rendle]
tiny orchid.
This orchid was first discovered in Florida in
December 1931 in the “Big Cypress Swamp”
(probably the Fakahatchee Swamp) in Collier County
by D. T. Tompkins (Correll, 1950). It is difficult to
15
find because of its diminutive size and its habit of

growing in only a few of the most remote sloughs
within the Fakahatchee Swamp. Luer (1972)
concludes that it is “quite uncommon in the most
inaccessible recesses of the [Fakahatchee] swamp.”
One plant was observed by the author in 1985
growing directly beneath the arching leaves of a
bromeliad, making it exceptionally difficult to see.
This species is undoubtedly very rare. In 28 years of
exploring the Fakahatchee Swamp, the author has
encountered only seven individuals of this species
and never has there been more than a single plant on
the host tree.
MAXILLARIA CRASSIFOLIA (Lindl.) Rchb. f.

[Synonymy: Maxillaria sessilis (Sw.) Fawc. and Rendle]
hidden orchid.
The first collection of this species in Florida was
probably made by J. B. McFarlin in Big Cypress
Hammock (about six miles west of Deep Lake,
Collier County, Florida) in April 1934 (Correll,
1950).This is a rarely encountered species in the
Fakahatchee Swamp and the deeper sloughs of the
adjacent Big Cypress National Preserve. Although
this species does not occur on the checklist of plants
for Everglades National Park, there had been a plant
in a hardwood hammock on Long Pine Key (Miami-
Dade County) persisting from a Frank Craighead
introduction. This plant was moved to that location
from an area in Big Cypress National Preserve that
16
was slated for development. Craighead made many

attempts at establishing this species into hammocks
of Long Pine Key but all but this one failed. It has
not been seen in that hammock since Hurricane
Andrew and is presumed extirpated from Everglades
National Park.
MAXILLARIA PARVIFLORA (Poepp. & Endl.)

Garay [Synonymy: Maxillaria conferta (Grisb.) C.
Schweinf ex Léon Florida range: Collier County.
Common name: none.
This species was first found in Florida by the
author in 1975 growing in a very remote pop ash
slough in the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County
(Hammer, 1981; McCartney, 1993). Carlyle Luer
accompanied the author to the station in April 1976
and tentatively identified the plants as Maxillaria
conferta (now relegated as a synonym of M. parviflora).
Luer collected a single stem with roots and cultivated
it at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota
until it flowered. Its identity was confirmed and the
plant was deposited at the Marie Selby Botanical
Gardens’ herbarium.
Several large clusters of this orchid had

colonized a single pop ash tree. Sometime in 1990, a
large trunk of the host tree broke off, killing about
half of the known population. The remaining two
trunks harbored the rest of the population. In 1996,
the author was unable to locate the tree while on an
excursion with Keith Bradley and Mike Owen. It is
17
possible that the rest of the tree fell, sending the

remaining plants to a watery grave, or we may have
been inspecting the wrong slough. A trip into this
area is being scheduled by Mike Owen and the
author in an attempt to relocate the station. This
species is tentatively kept in the “Very Rare” section
of this report but it may, indeed, already be
extirpated. Only eight people ever saw this orchid
growing wild in Florida. Sadly, in January 1983, the
author suggested to George Avery that we visit the
M. parviflora station in September to see if we could
see it in flower. Avery died in July.
MESADENUS LUCAYANUS (Britton) Schltr.

[Synonymy: Ibididum lucayana Britton, Spiranthes
lucayana (Britton) Conginaux; Mesadenus polyanthus
(Rchb. F.) Schltr. misapplied.] Florida range:
Citrus, Duval, Martin, Miami-Dade and Sarasota
Counties. Common name: gray ladies’-tresses.
This species was first discovered in Florida by
J. K. Small and C. A. Mosier on the southern portion
of Elliott Key (Miami-Dade County) in 1915
(Correll, 1950). It was not seen again for nearly 40
years when a fern collector found it in Citrus County
(Luer, 1972). It was also collected by B. E. Tatje at
Sewall’s Point in Martin County in February 1978
(Keith Bradley, pers. comm.). Two herbarium
specimens were deposited at the University of South
Florida in Tampa by Ruben Sauleda that were dated
April 2 and April 18, 1988 respectively (Sauleda
#9202 and #9214). The collection locations were
18
given as “Miami-Dade Co., Everglades National

Park,” with specific site details listed on each
herbarium label. An extensive search of both
locations within Everglades National Park were
made from 1990 to 1998 by a number of
knowledgeable botanists but no plants have ever
been found. The author deposited photocopies of
the herbarium sheets at the Everglades National
Park research center, which unintentionally set off
an official inquiry. Because the collections were
made without federal permits, Everglades National
Park staff requested that the specimens be returned
for accessioning and cataloging. The current status
of this rare taxon in southern Florida is unknown.
There have been no confirmed sightings of this
species in Miami-Dade County in recent years.
PLEUROTHALLIS GELIDA Lindl. Florida

range: Collier County. Common name: flor de
llanten.
This species was found for the first time in
Florida in Collier County by A. A. Eaton in March
1905 (Correll, 1950). Correll (1950), Lakela and
Craighead (1965), and Luer (1972), all list this species
for Collier and Miami-Dade counties, but the Miami-
Dade records are likely based on plants moved into
hammocks on Long Pine Key in Everglades
National Park by Frank Craighead and others. A few
of these introductions have been reported as
persisting within undisclosed locations within
Everglades National Park, but none have ever been
19
observed by the author. This species is listed on the

plant list for Everglades National Park (Loope and
Avery, 1980), but is not listed for Big Cypress
National Preserve (Black and Black, 1980), nor does
it appear on the plant list for Corkscrew Swamp. It is
currently only known from the Fakahatchee Swamp
where it is infrequent in the deep, remote sloughs.
PONTHIEVA BRITTONIAE Ames [Synonymy:

Ponthieva racemosa (Walter) C. Mohr var. brittonae
(Ames) Luer] Florida range: Miami-Dade County.
Common name: Mrs. Britton’s shadow witch.
The first Florida collection of this species is
apparently that of J. K. Small and J. J. Carter on
January 16, 1909 from “small islands NW of
Perrine.” It was also collected between January 18-
26, 1909 from “Long Key (Everglades).” It was
reported from the Bahamas in 1910. Carlyle Luer
photographed it in flower in Miami-Dade County in
February 1961 without a specific location (Luer,
1972).
On February 24, 1979, the author discovered

six plants growing along the edge of a firebreak on
Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park near
Wright Hammock (two plants were in flower).
George Avery visited the site on March 1, 1979 and,
on March 12, 1979 the author was accompanied by
Donovan Correll and John Popenoe to the station.
This was the first time either of them had seen living
plants of this species. Correll collected half of one
20
inflorescence for closer study and later determined

that it should be relegated as a separate species and
not a variety of the more widespread Pontheiva
racemosa.
A few plants were seen at the same Long Pine

Key station by George Avery, Chuck McCartney,
and the author in February 1983. Avery correctly
noted that “all plants [were] on dirt soil of road
margin” (Avery, unpubl. notes). Sometime between
1985-86, the firebreak was graded by the National
Park Service to smooth the road (automobiles were
still allowed access down this firebreak at the time).
Unfortunately, the grader widened the firebreak
slightly and destroyed the orchid population. The
last confirmed sighting of this species in Florida is
that of Chuck McCartney who saw and
photographed a robust plant in flower at the edge of
a solution hole on Long Pine Key on February 15,
1987. McCartney, the author, and others have made
annual treks to Long Pine Key during February and
March (its flowering season) in an effort to re-
discover this species. So far, all of these efforts have
failed.
PRESCOTIA OLIGANTHA (Sw.) Ames Florida

range: Miami-Dade County. Common name:
small prescott orchid.
This diminutive plant was first discovered in
Florida by A. A. Eaton, who found it growing in a
hammock in Lee County in 1903 and again near
21
Homestead in 1905 (Correll, 1950). This hammock

in Miami-Dade County was known as Burden’s
Hammock. When this location was being threatened
by a housing development in 1960, Carlyle Luer
moved the plants into “a similar hammock within
the boundaries of Everglades National Park” (Luer,
1972). There were no reports of this species still
surviving in Everglades National Park until February
1989 when a flowering plant was discovered by Don
Keller in a hammock on Long Pine Key. This can
only be presumed to be the same location where
Luer moved plants but Luer stated to the author that
he could not recall any specific relocation details.
The plant discovered by Keller was photographed by
the author. The small population of about a half
dozen plants was being closely monitored up until
Hurricane Andrew in 1992. A few attempts at
relocating the station have been recently made
without success.
SPIRANTHES EATONII Ames ex P. M. Brown

Florida range: Alachua, Citrus, Clay, DeSoto, Dixie,
Escanaba, Franklin, Hernando, Highlands,
Hillsborough, Jackson, Lee, Levy, Madison, Marion,
Miami-Dade, Okaloosa, Sumter, Taylor, Volusia,
Wakulla, and Walton counties.
Common name: Eaton’s ladies’-tresses.
In 1905, A. A. Eaton discovered in Miami-Dade
County, Florida what he thought to be Spiranthes
lacera, and later Ames annotated the specimens
Eaton had collected and deposited at the orchid
22
herbarium at Harvard University, to forma

angustifolia. Ames later attached a note to the sheet
with the annotation, Spiranthes eatonii sp. nov., and
even indicated the seven specimens on the sheet as
the type (Brown, 1999). He would, however, never
publish the name.
Over the next 94 years, this taxon would be

collected many more times, variously labeled
Spiranthes lacera, S. gracilis, S. lacera var. gracilis, S.
gracilis var. brevilabris, and S. torta (Brown, 1999). Its
current known range is Florida, eastern Texas,
southern Louisiana, southern Alabama, southern and
eastern Georgia north to southeastern Virginia. Paul
Martin Brown, who published the name Spiranthes
eatonii in March 1999, brought this orchid to the
author’s attention during the final stages of writing
this report. Because it has been inadvertently
collected over a relatively wide geographic range,
including throughout much of Florida, it is likely that
this “new” taxon is still extant.
TROPIDIA POLYSTACHYA (Sw.) Ames

name: young palm orchid.
This species was found for the first time in
Florida in Brickell Hammock, Miami-Dade County,
by A. H. Curtiss in April 1897 (Correll, 1972). Luer
(1972) states that “our native Tropidia is on the verge
of extinction” because so few plants were known
from only a single location. In 1972, the author
23
surveyed about four dozen plants in a small

fragment of what is left of Brickell Hammock (now a
City of Miami park). In April 1980, the City of
Miami Parks Department decided to clear a “nature
trail” through the hammock for public access, and
this trail went directly through the largest colony of
orchids. In October 1980, an extensive search of the
hammock was made by George Avery and the
author, and a total of 12 plants were located, one of
which had unopened flower buds. In 1989, the
author was accompanied by Carol Lippincott to
conduct another survey and were able to locate only
six plants (Hammer, 1997). Following Hurricane
Andrew in 1992, the hammock became a homeless
encampment with trash strewn about makeshift huts,
and this added foot traffic further endangered the
orchid population.
The New York Botanical Garden herbarium

harbors four collections of Tropidia polystachya: A. A.
Eaton, December 1903, Brickell Hammock; J. K.
Small and J. J. Carter, October 1906, Brickell
Hammock; J. K. Small and C. A. Mosier, June 1915,
Brogdon Hammock; J. K. Small, K. W. Small, and J.
B. Dewinkler, December 1922, Warwick Hammock
at Cutler. The historic location of Brogdon
Hammock is unknown, but Warwick Hammock
existed at the northeast section of Howard Drive
(SW 136 Street) and Ludlam Road (SW 67 Avenue),
which is now the site of the Devonwood
subdivision.
24
There is a herbarium specimen deposited at

Fairchild Tropical Garden labeled “Cutler, Dade
County” made by “WGA” (William G. Atwater)
dated August 24, 1954. This collection could have
been from either Warwick Hammock or Addison
Hammock within the Deering Estate at Cutler. This
species appears on a plant list for Addison
Hammock compiled by J. K. Small, but no plants
have been reported from that site in recent years and
there are apparently no herbarium specimens to
document its historic occurrence there. A single
specimen from Miami-Dade County exists in the
herbarium at the University of South Florida
(Wunderlin, pers. comm.).
There is also one other interesting report that

was made sometime in November or December
1903 and reported by Oakes Ames in the 1904
publication, A contribution to our knowledge of the orchid
flora of southern Florida (Contributions from the Ames
Botanical Laboratory, No. 1). A. A. Eaton had found
Tropidia at “Costello’s [Castellow] Hammock, T. 39
R 56 S., December 19 (a few plants only).” Extensive
botanical surveys have been conducted in Castellow
Hammock over the years without further reports of
this species. It is not listed by Roy Woodbury on his
1937 checklist of plants of Castellow Hammock.
Because no plants could be located within the

portion of Brickell Hammock where this species was
last seen prior to Hurricane Andrew, the author
25
reported its potential demise (Hammer, 1997). But,

in 1998, Chuck McCartney discovered three plants
and the author has since found one additional plant.
That brings the total number of plants known to
exist in Florida to four individuals. To say that this
species is near extirpation would be an
understatement.
RARE
CAMPYLOCENTRUM PACHYRRHIZUM
(Rchb. f.) Rolfe Florida range: Collier County.
Common name: leafless bent spur orchid; ribbon
orchid.
Collier County by A. A. Eaton in 1905 (Correll,
1950). It is rare but locally common in the
Fakahatchee Swamp, where it grows on royal palms,
pop ash, pond-apple and, reportedly, cypress trees.
This is a leafless species that is often hard to detect
because it grows on trees that are often covered with
mosses and lichens, and it can also be confused with
the roots of other orchids. It appears on the list of
vascular plants for Big Cypress National Preserve
(Black and Black, 1980) on the basis of a 1956
specimen. It is now believed to be restricted to the
Fakahatchee Swamp in Florida.
CYRTOPODIUM PUNCTATUM (L.) Lindl.

Florida range: Collier, Miami-Dade, Lee, and
Monroe counties. Common name: cigar orchid;
cowhorn orchid.
26
The first recorded collection of this orchid in

Florida was made in 1897 by A. P. Garber near
Miami (Correll, 1950). Because of its spectacular
floral display, it became one of the most sought-after
orchids in Florida. Photographs taken in the early
1900s show horse-drawn wagons filled with
cowhorn orchids taken from the Everglades, and
this species is still illegally collected from preserves
in southern Florida. There are, however, some
impressive plants still remaining in Everglades
National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve,
Corkscrew Swamp, and Fakahatchee Swamp. As
recently as 1992 there was a large specimen growing
on a mangrove within Bill Baggs Cape Florida State
Recreation Area on Key Biscayne, but it was
destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. A population at the
Deering Estate at Cutler was also destroyed by
Hurricane Andrew. This population, however, was
introduced by Charles Deering’s friend and
correspondent, John Kunkel Small. In a letter to
Oakes Ames dated February 21, 1923, Small
reminisced about a collecting trip to Cape Sable
(Monroe County) and wrote, “we found a plant of
Cyrtopodium on a cabbage-tree [Sabal palmetto] trunk
with 201 pseudobulbs on a mass of roots between 3
and 4 feet in diameter. It took six men to handle it. I
had it set up in the Deering botanical garden at
Cutler.” In Everglades National Park, this species
occurs sporadically from the hardwood forests of
Long Pine Key through the cypress forests and into
the coastal mangroves of mainland Monroe County.
27
EPIDENDRUM FLORIDENSE Hágsater

[Epidendrum difforme Jacq., misapplied; Amphiglottis
difformis (Jacq.) Britton, misapplied; Neolehmannia
difforumis (Jacq.) Pabst, misapplied] Florida range:
Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, Hendry, Lee,
Monroe, Palm Beach, and Polk counties. Common
name: umbrella star orchid.
The earliest collection of this species in
Florida was probably made by A. P. Garber near
Miami in 1877 (Correll, 1950). Luer (1972) states that
this species (as Epidendrum difforme) is “rather
abundant in the hammocks and forests of southern
peninsular Florida and exceedingly common farther
south.” Chuck McCartney (pers. comm.) reports
relatively large populations in two Broward County
preserves. This is an interesting observation because
Correll (1950) did not list this species for Broward
County. It is infrequent and local in the Fakahatchee
Swamp and it is listed on a plant survey for Crooked
E Ranch in the Devil’s Garden area of Hendry
County. This list was compiled by George Avery and
other members of the Native Plant Workshop
during field trips conducted between June 1970 and
June 1976. Also, Frank Craighead made numerous
attempts to establish this species in hammocks on
Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park, and one
of these introductions persists in a hammock just
inside the park entrance. There are local but
widespread populations in the Flamingo area of
Everglades National Park.
28
ONCIDIUM FLORIDANUM Ames. [Oncidium

ensatum Lindl. misapplied] Florida range: Collier
and Miami-Dade counties. Common name:
Florida oncidium; Florida dancing lady orchid.
Botanists J. K. Small and J. J. Carter were the first
to discover this species in Florida in 1903 in Miami-
Dade County (Correll, 1950). This terrestrial species
historically occurred in hammocks over much of
Miami-Dade County but collectors and habitat
destruction have eliminated it outside of Everglades
National Park. Wunderlin (1998) only lists it for
Miami-Dade County on the basis of voucher
specimens but it is listed by Austin (1990) for the
Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County. Carlyle Luer
(pers. comm.) recalls seeing this species in the
northwestern section of the Fakahatchee in an area
slated for development by the Gulf American
Corporation. Also, Chuck McCartney (pers. comm.)
reports seeing a plant in the Monument Road area of
Big Cypress National Preserve (Collier County)
sometime in the late 1970s.
ONCIDIUM UNDULATUM (Sw.) Salisb.

[Synonymy: Lophiaris maculata (Aublet) Acker.;
Oncidium luridum Lindl., misapplied] Florida range:
Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Common
name: mule-ear orchid.
The mule-ear orchid was first found in Florida“
on Royal Palm Key, Dade County, Florida” by A. A.
Eaton and John Soar in December 1903 (Correll,
1950). Royal Palm Key refers to what is now known
29
as Royal Palm Hammock on Paradise Key in

Everglades National Park. The historical inland
occurrence of this species is interesting because
today it is known only from coastal hammocks and
mangrove-buttonwood associations in mainland
Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Chuck
McCartney discovered a large plant growing just off
a tram road within the Fakahatchee Swamp in March
1994 but this specimen disappeared shortly after its
discovery. This was not a naturally occurring
specimen because there was evidence that it had
been wired to the tree.
Because this is one of Florida’s showiest
native orchids, it has been highly sought by
collectors and has been eliminated from much of its
historic range. In 1938, J. K. Small made a collection
“on live oaks below Miami,” but no further location
details were given. There is a photograph taken by
Small dated December 1917 showing a large mule-
ear orchid growing on the limb of a live oak in Royal
Palm Hammock (Miami-Dade County). This species
is now restricted to relatively remote regions of
Everglades National Park and buttonwoods
(Conocarpus erecta) are its primary host.
Florida material of O. undulatum has been

generally known as Oncidium luridum, but recent
authors have concluded that O. luridum is a separate
species found in Central and South America and
differs significantly in morphology. Chuck
30
McCartney and others disagree with this

determination.
PLATYTHELYS SAGRAEANA [Synonymy:

Physurus sagraeanus A. Rich.] Florida range:
Highlands County south through the peninsula.
Common name: none.
This species has been collected a number of
times in southern Florida under the name Erythrodes
querceticola. J. K. Small (1933) listed two species in the
genus Physurus for Florida; Physurus sagraeanus for
“hammocks, S pen. Fla. (West Indies),” and Physurus
querceticola for “low woods and hammocks, Coastal
Plain, N pen. Fla. to La. and Tex.” The name
Platythelys sagraeanus is being used in a new work on
the orchids of the Lesser Antilles and Paul Martin
Brown will be following suit in a new work on the
orchid flora of Florida. It is known from a few
National Park (Miami-Dade County) and is sporadic
in Big Cypress National Preserve, the Fakahatchee
Swamp and Corkscrew Swamp (Collier County).
This species was listed (as Erythrodes querceticola) on a
1937 checklist of plants for Castellow Hammock in
southern Miami-Dade County conducted by Roy
Woodbury but it has not been seen at that location
in recent years. It is not currently known from
Miami-Dade County outside of Everglades National
Park, but it is small, and easily overlooked.
31
POLYRADICION LINDENII (Lindl.) Garay

[Synonymy: Dendrophyax lindendii Lindley, Polyrrhiza
lindenii (Lindl.) Cogn.] Florida range: Collier, Lee,
and Monroe counties. Common name: ghost
orchid; palm polly.
Jean Jules Linden was the first to discover this
unusual orchid in the dense forests of Sagua and
Nimanima in St. Jago de Cuba in September 1844.
The species was described by John Lindley in 1846
and named to commemorate Linden (Luer, 1972). In
Florida, it was first found in Collier County by A. H.
Curtiss in 1880 (Correll, 1950).
In 1969, Clyde Bramblett, an orchid and

carnivorous plant enthusiast, moved several plants
from the Gulf American Corporation’s subdivision
site northwest of the Fakahatchee Swamp to
Grossman Hammock (now Chekika Recreation Area
in Everglades National Park). One of these plants,
which was wired to a pond-apple tree along the
hammock trail, survived for a number of years and
was photographed in flower by the author in July
1975. A seed capsule was produced but no seedlings
have ever been found at the site. This plant was
killed by the freeze of 1977, and the species is now
likely extirpated from Miami-Dade County.
In April 1885, naturalist Charles Torrey

Simpson and nurseryman Pliny Reasoner sailed from
Tampa Bay to Cape Sable to collect plants and
shells. Simpson wrote in Plant World (Vol. 5, pp. 4-7,
32
1902) of 125’ royal palms growing at the Evans

Plantation along Rodgers River (Monroe County)
and noted that he had found “Dendrophylax
[Polyradicion] lindenii”growing on the palm trunks. He
also noted that he had seen this same species
growing on royal palms in Honduras. This is odd
because the ghost orchid occurs only in Florida and
Cuba, not in Honduras. Wunderlin (1998) lists its
Florida range (from voucher specimens) as Lee,
Collier, and Monroe counties.
SACOILA LANCEOLATA (Aubl.) Garay var.

PALUDICOLA (Luer) Sauleda, et al [Synonymy:
Spiranthes lanceolata (Aubl.) Leon var. paludicola Luer]
Florida range: Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, and
Palm Beach counties. Common name: scarlet
ladies’-tresses.
This recognizable variety is endemic to southern
Florida. It is most common in and around the
Fakahatchee Swamp and Corkscrew Swamp in
Collier County. Numerous attempts were made by
Frank Craighead to introduce it into Everglades
National Park and some of his introductions
persisted for a number of years before disappearing.
It still occurs in Grossman Hammock (now known
as Chekika Recreation Area in Everglades National
Park). George Avery, George Gann, and the author
also observed several plants in an oak-dominated
forest near Kendall Tamiami Airport in March 1979
but this population has since disappeared. It was
once thought that this orchid was restricted to
33
Collier County, but there are also populations in

Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Broward
population is thriving in a county preserve and it was
only recently found there, indicating that it may have
been purposely introduced or made a recent natural
range expansion.
SPIRANTHES LONGILABRIS Lindl. Florida

range: throughout Florida except the extreme
southern tip of the mainland and the Florida Keys.
Common name: longlip ladies’-tresses.
It is unknown when this species was first
collected in Florida, but it was first described by
John Lindley in 1840 from a specimen collected in
Louisiana. Correll (1950) states that this species is
“commonly found in wet grassy pine barrens and
flatwoods, swamps, marshes, wet savannahs, coastal
prairies, sandy bogs, and moist grassy meadows.” Its
natural range encompasses the southeastern US.
In southern Florida, it is rare but can be

found sporadically around Corkscrew Swamp and
Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County. It was also
discovered for the first time in the Bear Island Unit
in Big Cypress National Preserve in 1997 by Keith
Bradley. It is much more common northward.
SPIRANTHES TORTA (Thunb.) Garay and H. R.

Sweet [Synonymy: Spiranthes tortilis (Sw.) Rich.]
Florida range: Charlotte and Palm Beach counties
34
southward into the Lower Florida Keys. Common

name: southern ladies’-tresses.
Correll (1950) gives credit to Thomas
Drummond as being the first person to collect this
orchid in the US, and the collection was made in
Orleans Parrish, Louisiana in 1832. This collection
has proven to be Spiranthes eatonii. In southern
Florida, it is a rare inhabitant of open, grassy
meadows in pine rockland habitat. A flowering
specimen deposited in Fairchild Tropical Garden’s
herbarium was collected by Donovan Correll and
John Popenoe in June 1977 at the corner of
Allapattah Drive and Old Cutler Road (Miami-Dade
County). Keith Bradley reports seeing it at that same
location ca. 1995 but the site is now destroyed.
Currently, this species is known from the

Lower Florida Keys (Monroe County), on Long Pine
Key in Everglades National Park (Miami-Dade
County), and in remnant glades in the Richmond
Pineland complex south of MetroZoo (Miami-Dade
County). It should be mentioned that some of the
more northern reports of this species in Florida may
reflect misidentifications with the very similar
Spiranthes eatonii. Also see Spiranthes amesiana in the
“Presumed Extirpated” section of this report.
UNCOMMON
CALOPOGON PALLIDUS Chapm. [Synonymy:
Limodorum pallidum (Chapm.) C. Mohr] Florida
35
range: nearly throughout mainland Florida.

Common name: pale grasspink.
This orchid was first collected in the United
States sometime in the 1890s. Lakela and Craighead
(1965) list this species for Miami-Dade and Collier
counties. It is on the plant list for the Fakahatchee
Swamp (Austin, 1990) in Collier County and also
occurs at Corkscrew Swamp. On the east coast of
Florida it is known to occur as far south as Palm
Beach County (Keith Bradley collected a voucher
specimen from Jupiter, Florida in 1998). While this
species may have historically occurred in Miami-
Dade County, it is no longer extant. It is possible
that some reports, especially those from Miami-
Dade County, are the result of the misidentification
of this species with pale-flowered forms of the more
common Calopogon tuberosus (refer to this species in
the Common section of this report). Calopogon
pallidus is not listed for Everglades National Park nor
Big Cypress National Preserve.
CYCLOPOGON CRANICHOIDES (Griseb.)

Schltr. [Synonymy: Beadlea cranichoides (Griseb.)
Small; Spiranthes cranichoides (Griseb.) Cogn.] Florida
range: Alachua, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Miami-
Dade, Monroe, and Volusia counties. Common
name: cranichis ladies’-tresses; speckled ladies’-
tresses.
The first collection of this species in Florida
was from Holly Hill, Volusia County, by Alice
Eastwood in 1890 (Correll, 1950). Another
36
collection from the same area was made by F. A.

Storer in 1897 and described by A. W. Chapman as
Spiranthes Storeri to honor its collector. The type
specimen of S. Storeri was destroyed in a flash flood
at the Biltmore Herbarium in 1916 in Biltmore,
North Carolina (Correll, 1950).
Correll (1950) refers to this species “rather

frequent in Florida” and gives its range as “Alachua,
Collier, Dade [Miami-Dade], Highlands, Monroe,
Pasco and Volusia counties.” Whether or not Correll
actually saw specimens from all of these counties is
unknown. Wunderlin (1998) only lists it for Alachua,
Highlands, and Miami-Dade counties on the basis of
voucher specimens and regards it as “rare.” It has
recently be found in Lake (1998) and Marion (1999)
Counties. It is locally abundant in a number of
hardwood forests of southern Miami-Dade County
although, surprisingly, it is quite rare in Everglades
National Park hammocks. It was not listed by Loope
and Avery (1980) for Everglades National Park but it
is known to occur in at least three hammocks on
Long Pine Key (author, pers. obsv.).
In April 1920, J. K. Small discovered this

species on Pumpkin Key and reported his find in a
small pamphlet that he authored and published,
entitled “The Botanical Fountain of Youth: A
Record of Exploration in Florida in April 1920.”
Small wrote, “we had the satisfaction too, of adding
another terrestrial orchid to the flora of the reef – a
37
humus plant, Beadlea cranichoides.” Pumpkin Key is

about 1/2 mile south of the Miami-Dade County
line in southern Biscayne Bay (Monroe County) and,
prior to its development, was covered with tropical
hardwood forest fringed with mangroves.
This orchid had been common in Castellow

Hammock prior to Hurricane Andrew but has not
been observed at that location by the author since
the storm. The felling of trees followed by direct sun
on the forest floor would have been detrimental to
this, and other, species of terrestrial orchids. It is still
very common in a hammock one mile east of
Castellow Hammock.
ENCYCLIA BOOTHIANA (Lindl.) Dressler var.

ERYTHRONIOIDES (Small) Luer [Synonymy:
Epidendrum boothianum (Lindl.) Small var. erythronioides
(Small) Luer; Prosthechea boothiana (Lindl.) W.E.
Higgins var. erythronioides (Small) W.E. Higgins]
Florida range: Martin, Miami-Dade, and Monroe
counties. Common name: dollar orchid.
This species was collected for the first time in
Florida by A. H. Curtiss sometime before 1890 on
Key Largo (Correll, 1950). At that time, it was
reportedly common in the forests of the Florida
Keys and in the coastal forests of the southern
mainland as well. Collectors and habitat destruction
have since eliminated it over much of its historic
Florida range. There are still small populations
scattered throughout the Upper Florida Keys,
38
especially on Key Largo, but it is curiously rare on

Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park. On the
mainland there is a small population growing on live
oaks at the Deering Estate at Cutler. This is a rather
disjunct colony from other mainland populations,
the nearest probably being the Flamingo area of
Everglades National Park in Monroe County. The
Deering Estate population may be the result of a
purposeful introduction by Charles Deering’s friend
and correspondent, John Kunkel Small, who is
known to have introduced many plants to Deering’s
palatial estate. Prior to Hurricane Andrew, there was
a very small colony of dollar orchids (again on live
oaks) in a small hammock surrounded by agricultural
land that was bisected by Loveland Road (SW 217
Avenue). This colony, however, is no longer extant
due to hurricane damage. The largest and most
protected populations occur in the mangrove-
buttonwood forests from Flamingo to Cape Sable
northward through the Everglades backcountry, and
in the federal- and state-owned preserves on North
Key Largo.
ENCYCLIA COCHLEATA (L.) Dressler var.

TRIANDRA (Ames) Dressler [Synonymy: Encyclia
cochleata (L.) Dressler subsp. triandra (Ames)
Hágsater; Anacheilium cochleatum (L.) Hoffmanns;
Anacheilium cochleatum (L.) Hoffmanns var. triandrum
(Ames) Sauleda et al, Prosthechea cochleata (L.) W.E.
Higgins var. triandra (Ames) W.E. Higgins.] Florida
range: Broward, Collier, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade,
39
and Monroe counties. Common name: clamshell

orchid.
This species was first discovered inFloridaby
A. P. Garber “near Miami, Dade County, Florida” in
1877 (Correll, 1950). It was once a very common
orchid in southernFloridabut, like many other native
orchids, it no longer occurs over some of its historic
range in Florida. It is still locally abundant, however,
in the swamp forests of Collier County and in
hardwood forests within Everglades National Park
in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. J. K. Small
reported that this was one of the most prolific
epiphytic orchids in Matheson Hammock, which
became Miami-Dade County’s first public park in
1930. But, due to collecting, this orchid no longer
occurs at that location.
A 1937 plant survey conducted by Roy

Woodbury listed this species as occurring in
Castellow Hammock in southern Miami-Dade
County, but it no longer occurs at that location
either. There were two plants observed at the
Deering Estate at Cutler as recently as 1992, but
these were killed by Hurricane Andrew. The two
plants were growing on the base of two separate
trees directly across from each other along a cleared
trail, indicating that they were probably purposely
planted, although this species likely occurred
naturally there at one time.
40
There are still healthy populations within

Everglades National Park from Long Pine Key to
the coastal forests of Flamingo northward through
the Everglades backcountry. It is frequent in the
Fakahatchee Swamp and Big Cypress National
Preserve northward into Corkscrew Swamp. Chuck
McCartney (pers. comm.) also reports a healthy
population in Broward County.
EPIDENDRUM NOCTURNUM Jacq.

[Synonymy: Amphiglottis nocturna (Jacq.) Britton]
Florida range: Collier, Martin, Miami-Dade,
Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. Common
name: night-scented orchid.
The first collection of this orchid in Florida
was made by A. P. Garber near Miami in 1877
(Correll, 1950). It is an inhabitant of hardwood
hammocks and swamp forests of southern Florida
and, in some areas, is locally common. In the
hardwood forests of Miami-Dade County it is often
found on live oaks. In swamp forests it grows on
pop ash, pond-apple, laurel oak, redbay, and other
trees. In coastal forests it can be found on
buttonwoods and mangroves. There are healthy
populations along some of the remote rivers and
creeks throughout the Everglades backcountry
(author, pers. obsv.). Although many plants were
destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, it can still
be found in hardwood forests that were impacted by
the storm and will likely re-establish as a relatively
common epiphyte in these forests in time.
41
HABENARIA REPENS Nutt. Florida range:

nearly throughout mainland Florida. Common
name: waterspider orchid; waterspider false
reinorchid.
It is unknown when this ubiquitous orchid
was first discovered in Florida, but it was probably
sometime in the late 1880s or 1890s (there is a
photograph taken by J. K. Small in Lee County dated
1903). In some areas ofFloridathis is an exceedingly
abundant aquatic or subaquatic “weed,” often
colonizing roadside ditches and other moist, low-
lying areas. It is listed as “uncommon” on the plant
list for Big Cypress National Preserve (Black and
Black, 1980) and, surprisingly, it has never been
reported for Everglades National Park. Even in the
watery recesses of the Fakahatchee Swamp it is
seldom encountered. It is listed by Lakela and
Craighead (1965) for Miami-Dade County. If it does
not occur in the far western portion of Miami-Dade
County within the Miccosukee Reservation or in Big
Cypress National Preserve, then it is likely extirpated
from the county.
HARRISELLA PORRECTA (Rchb. f.) Fawc. &

Rendl. [Harrisella filiformis (Sw.) Cogn. misapplied]
Florida range: Broward and Collier counties
northward to Brevard and Hernando counties.
Common name: jinglebell orchid; needleroot
airplant orchid.
42
The first collection of this minuscule orchid

was probably made in Manatee County by E. N.
Reasoner in August 1888 (Correll, 1950). This
leafless species is extremely difficult to find because
it is nothing more than very slender roots attached
to small twigs of its host tree. Correll (1950)
correctly states that it is Florida’s smallest epiphytic
orchid. It can be found on cypress (Taxodium spp.),
tallowwood (Ximenia americana), willow (Salix
caroliniana), and other trees in hardwood forests and
swamps, and on citrus trees in abandoned groves.
Chuck McCartney (pers. comm.) reports finding
plants growing on guava trees (Psidium sp.) in
Broward County. It is not known to occur within
Everglades National Park and is on the Big Cypress
National Preserve plant list (Black and Black, 1980)
on the basis of a 1956 specimen. More recently,
however, Keith Bradley, Tony Pernas, and Steve
Woodmansee observed this species in Big Cypress
National Preserve in 1997. It is apparently absent
from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
IONOPSIS UTRICULARIOIDES (Sw.) Lindl.

Florida range: Collier, Monroe, and Palm Beach
counties. Common name: delicate ionopsis;
delicate violet orchid.
This species was probably collected for the
first time in Florida by Oakes and Blanche Ames,
who found it growing near Naples (Collier County)
on March 12, 1904 (Correll, 1950). Although it is
widespread in the Caribbean and tropical America, in
43
Florida it is most abundant in the Fakahatchee

Swamp, but it also occurs in Big Cypress National
Preserve, Corkscrew Swamp (Collier County), and
the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge (Palm Beach County). It always
clings precariously to small branches of its host tree
and is usually not very abundant where it is found.
Correll (1950) states that it is commonly found in
regions of dry atmospheric conditions (which
sounds odd because it is an inhabitant of swamp
forests). It seems to disappear from areas where it
was once abundant, and this does not appear to be
associated with collecting. It has been suggested that
it is cold-sensitive and that it may simply be short-
lived for an orchid.
LIPARIS NERVOSA (Thunb.) Lindl. [Synonymy:

Liparis elata Lindl. Florida range: Collier,
Hernando, Hillsborough, and Miami-Dade counties.
Common name: pantropical widelip orchid; tall
liparis.
James Layne discovered this species for the
first time inFloridain the Fakahatchee Swamp
(Collier County) in 1903 (Correll, 1950). It is
extremely widespread in both the New and Old
World. It is most abundant inFloridain the
Fakahatchee Swamp where it is often found growing
semi-epiphytically on cut-off, rotting cypress stumps
left over from logging in the 1940s and 1950s.
Populations can only be surveyed from spring to
early fall because it has a dormancy period in winter.
44
The Miami-Dade County range is given solely on the

basis of historical records.
MALAXIS SPICATA Sw. [Synonymy: Microstylis

floridana Chapm.] Florida range: Collier County
northward to the central Panhandle. Common
name: Florida adder's-mouth orchid.
This species was first collected in Florida by
A. W. Chapman in 1860 and he described the
species as Microstylis floridana (Correll, 1950). This is a
cold-hardy species that ranges northward along the
Atlantic seaboard as far as Virginia. In Florida it can
be found in low, moist woods and in hardwood
swamps but it is discontinuous in its distribution in
the state. In the Fakahatchee Swamp it is locally
common, growing semi-epiphytically on rotting
cypress stumps, often in association with Liparis
nervosa and Habenaria floribunda. It is listed as “rare”
on the plant list for Big Cypress National Preserve
(Black and Black, 1980). Chuck McCartney (pers.
comm.) reports that it is actually fairly common in
some areas of the northeastern portion of Big
Cypress National Preserve.
PLATANTHERA NIVEA (Nutt.) Luer

[Synonymy: Habenaria nivea (Nutt.) Spreng.] Florida
range: mainland Miami-Dade County northward.
Common name: snowy orchid.
This species occurs from eastern Texas
through the southeastern US north to southern New
Jersey. It is unknown when it was first discovered in
45
Florida but it can be very abundant in the savannas

of North and Central Florida, becoming less
common in southern Florida. It is surprisingly
absent from Everglades National Park, although
there is a possibility that it could occur in the
northern portion of mainland Monroe County
within Everglades National Park (the author has
seen plants within five miles of the Everglades
National Park boundary near Gum Slough in Big
Cypress National Preserve). It occurs sporadically
and infrequently in the open glades of Big Cypress
National Preserve and is also known from the
Fakahatchee Swamp and Corkscrew Swamp (Collier
County). Anthesis is short, each plant taking only
two or three weeks to finish flowering. During dry
years it skips flowering altogether. There is a
specimen collected in 1904 from “Lemon City, Dade
County, Florida” but it is now considered extirpated
from the county.
PTEROGLOSSASPIS ECRISTATA (Fernald)

Rolfe [Synonymy: Eulophia ecristata (Fernald) Ames]
Florida range: Miami-Dade and Collier counties
northward to the central Panhandle.
Common name: giant orchid.
The earliest collection of this orchid in Florida
was made by Ferdinand Rugel in 1842. It was
collected again by A. W. Chapman in Gadsden
County in 1845 (Correll, 1950). There is a herbarium
specimen collected by “W.G.A.” (William G.
Atwater) in 1961 with the label reading “Redlands
46
west of Perrine” (Miami-Dade County). Correll

(1950) points out that this species has an extremely
disrupted range in the southeastern US, and it also
has a discontinuous range in Florida. In Miami-Dade
County there are populations in the Richmond
Pineland complex south of MetroZoo, in a pineland
preserve near Kendall Tamiami Airport, in a
pineland parcel owned by the Girl Scout Council of
Tropical Florida, in the Rockdale Pineland Preserve,
and in a small preserve called Pine Shore Park. There
is also a population in Collier County in Corkscrew
(Crew) Marsh north of Corkscrew Swamp. Oddly, all
Miami-Dade populations of this species are
cleistogamous (the flowers become fertilized without
opening). Chuck McCartney (pers. comm.) also
reports that, when dissected, the lip of these
cleistogamous flowers appear to have mutated to
match the other two petals.
SACOILA LANCEOLATA (Aubl.) Garay var.

LANCEOLATA [Synonymy: Spiranthes orchioides
(Sw.) A. Rich.; Stenorrhynchos lanceolatus (Aubl.) Rich.
ex. Spreng.; Stenorrhynchos orchidoides (Sw.) Rich. ex
Spreng; Sacoila lanceolata (Aubl.) Garay var. luteoalba
(Rchb. f.) Sauleda et al., misapplied; Spiranthes
lanceolata (Aubl.) Léon; Spiranthes lanceolata (Aubl.)
Léon var. luteoalba (Rchb. f.) Luer, misapplied].
Florida range: sporadic throughout much of the
peninsula and in Walton County in the Panhandle.
Common name: leafless beaked ladies’-tresses.
47

first time in Florida in Orange Bend, Lake County,
by George V. Nash in April 1894 (Correll, 1950).
Luer (1972) points out that there was much
botanical confusion caused by the original brief and
fragmentary 18th Century descriptions of this species.
Luer (1972) lists 33 botanical synonyms to attest to
the attempts to name the various forms and varieties
over its long botanical history. The typical variety,
leafless during anthesis, is common in Central
Florida and even occurs along mowed road
shoulders, ditches, and pasture land. The flowers are
orange-red or green. This plant is seldom
encountered in the southernmost counties in Florida
but it is locally common in Hendry and Lee counties.
There are specimens collected around the Florida
International University’s Tamiami Campus in
Miami-Dade County deposited in the Fairchild
Tropical Garden herbarium. It occurs only sparingly
in Big Cypress National Preserve and around the
Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County. It is absent
from Everglades National Park.
The green-flowered form of this plant, listed

by Luer (1972) as Spiranthes lanceolata var. luteoalba,
and regarded by Wunderlin (1998) as a misapplied
name, has been referred to as Sacoila lanceolata forma
albidaviridis by Paul Catling & Charles Sheviak (1993).
This green-flowered form ranges into Hendry and
Lee counties and typically flowers slightly ahead of
48
the red-flowered plants. Sacoila lanceolata var.

paludicola is treated in the Rare section of this report.
SPIRANTHES LACINIATA (Small) Ames

[Synonymy: Ibidium laciniatum (Small) House)
Florida range: throughout the mainland. Common
name: lacelip ladies’-tresses.
In 1940, Donovan Correll said that he
thought this orchid was a naturally occurring hybrid
of Spiranthes praecox and S. vernalis but later listed it as
a distinct species, although he still believed it was
closely allied to S. praecox. This orchid occurs
sporadically throughout the open glades and on road
swales of Big Cypress National Preserve, and around
the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County. It is also
sporadic in Miami-Dade County. Chuck McCartney
found flowering specimens on June 8, 1981 along
Krome Avenue south of Tamiami Trail (SR 41) at
the entrance of an old missile base. Carlyle Luer
photographed it in flower in Miami-Dade County in
May 1959 without any further location data. In
August 1988, this species was found in fair
abundance along the roadsides and in open glades
near the Everglades National Park visitor center and
at the turnoff to Royal Palm Hammock. These
plants were observed and photographed by Don
Keller, Chuck McCartney and the author. This is
noteworthy because this species was not previously
known to occur in Everglades National Park. It was
not listed on the checklist of plants for the park
(Loope and Avery, 1980) and there had been no
49
historical collections from the area. It is now

relatively common in some areas of Long Pine Key.
SPIRANTHES ODORATA (Nutt.) Lindl.

[Synonymy: Spiranthes cernua (L.) Rich. var. odorata
(Nutt.) Correll; Ibidium odoratum (Nutt.) House)
Florida range: nearly throughout the mainland.
Common name: scented ladies’-tresses.
Neither Correll (1950) nor Luer (1972) report
when this species was first collected in the US but
the type locality is along the borders of the Neuse
River at New Bern, North Carolina and was
described as Neottia odorata by Nuttall in 1834. This
species was long considered to be a variety of
Spiranthes cernua, but recent authors regard it as a
separate species. It is typically found in areas with a
long hydroperiod, especially around the edges of
deep sloughs in full sun. It is found around the
Fakahatchee Swamp, Corkscrew Swamp, and Big
Cypress National Preserve in Collier County, and
there is a population in the Taylor Slough area of
Everglades National Park along the main park road.
Recent road and bridge work in Everglades National
Park at Taylor Slough eliminated a large number of
plants, but now that the work is complete, the
remaining population will likely colonize the
refurbished area. Paul Martin Brown (pers. comm.)
points out that the Taylor Slough plants are smaller
in stature than those found further north in the state.
50
SPIRANTHES PRAECOX (Walter) S. Watson

[Synonymy: Ibidium praecox (Walter) House] Florida
range: nearly throughout the mainland. Common
name: greenvein ladies’-tresses.
Current literature does not mention when this
orchid was first collected in the US but it was
described as Limodorum praecox by Thomas Walter in
1788. This is a common, widespread species of the
southeastern US, but in southern Florida it is rare
and local. It is found sparingly around the
Fakahatchee Swamp and Corkscrew Swamp in
Collier County but is entirely absent from Big
Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National
Park.
TRIPHORA GENTIANOIDES (Sw.) Ames &

Schltr. [Synonymy: Triphora cubensis (Rchb. f.) Ames]
Florida range: Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, Lee,
Palm Beach, Pinellas and St. Lucie Counties.
Common name: gentian nodding caps.
Naturalist Charles Torrey Simpson found this
orchid for the first time in Florida in 1919 growing
along the Little River in Miami-Dade County. For
many years this species was apparently restricted to
Miami-Dade County in the US, persisting as a
“weed” in residential areas of the Kendall-Coral
Gables area. It also occurred in natural forest
communities such as Matheson Hammock. Luer
(1972) states “that this apparently tenacious little
orchid has not been successful in establishing itself
in other southern parts of the state is surprising.”
51
Well, it has had some success in recent years and is

now becoming increasingly common northward.
Chuck McCartney (pers. comm.) reports finding it
growing in several different locations in Broward
County and he collected a herbarium specimen from
northeastern Collier County in 1996 (the first Collier
record). It has been suggested that the sod industry
has been responsible for its recent range expansion
in Florida, but this would mean that seeds had to
have invaded the sod fields of Hendry and Glades
counties, or elsewhere in southernFloridawhere sod
is grown.
VANILLA BARBELLATA Rchb. f. [Vanilla

articulata Northr.] Florida range: Miami-Dade and
Monroe counties. Common name: wormvine
orchid.
It is unknown when this orchid was first
discovered in Florida but it was likely just after the
turn of the 20th century. As Correll (1950) points
out, it was J. K. Small, J. J. Carter, and A. A. Eaton
who began extensive plant explorations in the
southern portions of Florida and they are credited
with the discovery of numerous species of tropical
orchids between 1900 and 1905. This vining species
is still locally common in and around the small
hammocks, mangrove tree islands, and mangrove-
buttonwood forests from Madeira Bay to Cape Sable
northward through the Everglades backcountry. It is
also local in the Upper and Lower Florida Keys,
52
where it has become less common due to illegal

collecting and habitat destruction.
VANILLA PHAEANTHA Rchb. f. Florida

range: Collier County. Common name: leafy
vanilla.
Although Luer (1972) illustrated this species
on a range map for southern Florida and the West
Indies (including the Bahamas), its actual range
encompasses southern Florida(Collier County) the
Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the islands of
Trinidad and Tobago in the Lesser Antilles. Miami-
Dade County records are the result of failed
attempts by Frank Craighead to introduce this
species into Everglades National Park from plants he
collected in the Fakahatchee Swamp. There are even
Everglades National Park herbarium specimens at
the South Florida Research Center and this species is
listed by Loope and Avery (1980) on the park’s
checklist of plants. There are, however, no naturally
occurring plants of this species known in Florida
outside of the Fakahatchee Swamp.
David and Sally Black (1980) list this species

for Big Cypress National Preserve but in a
conversation with Sally Black, the author found that
they had listed it on the basis of a sterile “leafy
vanilla” they had found in the Roberts Lake Strand
area of Big Cypress National Preserve. There are no
other sightings in Big Cypress National Preserve and
it is unfortunate that this tentative record remains
53
unconfirmed. Another leafy vanilla that occurs in

southern Florida is Vanilla planifolia (see the
“Naturalized Exotics and Local Escapes” section in
this report), and it is possible that the Big Cypress
National Preserve plant could have been this species
as well.
COMMON
BLETIA PURPUREA (Lam.) DC.] Florida
range: from Lee and Palm Beach counties
southward into the Lower Florida Keys. Common
name: pine-pink.
Neither Correll (1950) nor Luer (1972) state
when this species was first discovered in Florida. It is
quite frequent in the rocky pinelands of southeastern
Florida and the Lower Florida Keys (Big Pine Key),
and it can also be found in the deep shade of the
Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County, often
growing on floating logs and cut-off cypress stumps.
The author has also seen plants in marl soils of Long
Pine Key in Everglades National Park where graders
created a linear mound of soil along firebreaks
through marl prairies. Some populations are
cleistogamous (the flowers become fertilized before
opening). According to J. A. Stevenson, in his 1926
U. S. Department of Agriculture publication
“Foreign Plant Diseases,” this orchid is occasionally
attacked by a rust, Uredo nigropunctata, that causes
devitilization of affected plants.
54
CALOPOGON TUBEROSUS (L.) Britton et al.

[Synonymy: Calopogon pulchellus R. Br., Limodourm
tuberosum L.;
CALOPOGON TUBEROSUS var. SIMPSONII
(Small) Magrath [Synonymy: Calopogon pulchellus R.
Br. var. simpsonii (Small) Ames; Limodorum simpsonii
Small;]
Florida range: the nominate variety throughout the
mainland and south to Collier, Broward, Palm Beach
and Lee Counties; var. simpsonii restricted to Collier,
Monroe and Miami-Dade. Common name: grass-
pink; tuberous grass-pink.
This is one of our most common terrestrial
orchids. It ranges throughout the eastern US to
Newfoundland, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. It was
first collected in colonial Virginia by John Clayton in
the 1730s and described by Gronovius in 1739
(Luer, 1972). It is an inhabitant of wet prairies,
marshes, low pinelands and, occasionally, along
roadside ditches. Flowers vary from deep pink to
pure white, and sometimes white-flowered plants
form entire populations. It flowers in more
profusion during seasons following fire in its habitat.
ENCYCLIA TAMPENSIS (Lindl.) Small

[Synonymy: Epidendrum tampense Lindl.] Florida
range: in all of Florida in and south of Flagler,
Volusia, Seminole, Lake, Levy, and Citrus Counties.
Common name: butterfly orchid.
This is Florida’s most common epiphytic
orchid, although it is absent from the northernmost
55
counties. It was first discovered near Tampa,

Hillsborough County, in 1846 by John Torrey, who
sent specimens to John Lindley (Correll, 1950). It is
known only from Florida and the islands of Andros
and Great Abaco in the Bahamas. It is variable in
flower size, color, and fragrance throughout its
range. Albino forms with pure white lips occur
rarely. It is found in extremely variable habitats,
ranging from dry scrub to dense, wooded swamps.
In the northern parts of its range it survives hard
freezes.
This has been one of Florida’s most collected

orchids, principally because of its abundance and
small, but pretty, flowers. Fortunately, it usually
thrives in cultivation so there is an abundant seed
source outside of its natural habitats. It is often
quick to recolonize areas where it has been nearly
eliminated.
EPIDENDRUM AMPHISTOMUM A. Rich.

[Epidendrum anceps Jacq. misapplied, Amphiglottis anceps
(Jacq.) Britton, misapplied] Florida range: Broward,
Collier, Miami-Dade, Lee, and Monroe counties.
Common name: dingy-flowered star orchid.
The first collection of this species (as E.
anceps) in Florida was probably made by Oakes and
Blanche Ames from “Gobbler’s Head” near Naples,
Collier County, on March 12, 1904 (Correll, 1950). It
is a rather frequently encountered orchid in the
Fakahatchee Swamp, Corkscrew Swamp, and Big
56
Cypress National Preserve. It is especially common

in pop ash and pond-apple sloughs but is
occasionally found in upland hardwood hammocks
as well. Frank Craighead moved numerous plants
into the hammocks of Long Pine Key in Everglades
National Park and some of these relocations still
persist. Some plants produce purplish-red leaves
(forma rubrifolium) which has no relation to the
amount of sunlight the plant receives. Purplish-red
plants can be found growing directly next to typical
green-leaved plants on the same tree. One odd
characteristic of this species is that it sometimes
produces a new bloom spike out of the previous
year’s spike.
EPIDENDRUM RIGIDUM Jacq. [Synonymy:

Spathiger rigidus (Jacq.) Small] Florida range: from
Broward and Lee counties southward on the
mainland. Common name: stiff-flower star orchid;
rigid epidendrum.
This species was first collected in Floridaby A.
H. Curtiss near Miami in 1877 (Luer, 1972). It was
collected again by J. K. Small, J. J. Carter, and A. A.
Eaton between Cutler and Camp Longview, Miami-
Dade County, in November 1903 (Correll, 1950). It
tends to form mat-like colonies on trees and is
frequent in wooded swamps and hardwood forests.
It often grows among resurrection fern on the
branches of live oaks, making it difficult to see until
dry weather causes the fern to shrivel up.
57
EULOPHIA ALTA (L.) Fawc. and Rendle

[Synonymy: Platypus alta (L.) Small] Florida range:
central and southern mainland. Common name:
wild coco.
This terrestrial orchid was first collected in
Florida by A. W. Chapman in 1875, who found it
growing along the Caloosahatchee River (Correll,
1950). This is a common plant of roadsides,
hammock margins, edges of prairies, hardwood
swamps, and other moist habitats. The pleated,
upright leaves can easily be mistaken for seedling
palms. Luer (1972) points out that this orchid’s
greatest enemy is the state road department that
sprays herbicide along roadside ditches. Numerous
plants that once grew along the edges of flood
control canals in Miami-Dade County were killed by
herbicide spraying conducted by South Florida
Water Management District (author, pers. obsv.). It
is common in Everglades National Park, Big Cypress
National Preserve, the Fakahatchee Swamp, and
Corkscrew Swamp.
HABENARIA ODONTOPETALA Rchb. f.

[Synonymy: Habenaria strictissima Rchb. f. var.
odontopetala (Rchb. f.) L. O. Williams; Habenella
odontopetala (Rchb. f.) Small; Habenaria floribunda
Lindl. misapplied] Florida range: central and
southern peninsula. Common name: toothpetal
orchid; toothpetal false rein orchid.
This species probably qualifies as Florida’s
most common woodland terrestrial orchid. It can be
58
found in virtually every hardwood hammock and

wooded swamp in Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe
counties. Oddly, Dan Austin, in his published list of
the vascular plants of the Fakahatchee Swamp
(1990), listed this species as “doubtful.” It is actually
quite common there and can be found growing on
the old railroad beds (tram roads) or semi-
epiphytically on cypress stumps and floating logs.
HABENARIA QUINQUESETA (Michx.) Eaton

[Synonymy: Habenaria habenaria (L.) Small] Florida
range: throughout the mainland and in Leon
County. Common name: longhorn false rein
orchid.
This species is believed to have been collected
for the first time in the US by Charles Wright in
Texas before 1853 (Correll, 1950). It has a rather
wide habitat range and, in southern Florida, can be
found in wet flatwoods as well as in dry, rocky
pinelands where it survives fire. It occurs
sporadically across Long Pine Key in Everglades
National Park, and in the Richmond Pineland
complex south of MetroZoo (Miami-Dade County).
It is also abundant in the pine flatwoods of
Corkscrew Swamp, and it is sporadic around the
Fakahatchee Swamp (Collier County). The author
has also observed it flowering in the ditches along
SR 29 bordering the Fakahatchee Swamp.
POLYSTACHYA CONCRETA (Jacq.) Garay and

H. R. Sweet [Synonymy: Polystachya extinctoria Rchb.
59
f.; Polystachya flavescens (Lindl.) J. J. Sm.; Polystachya

minuta (Aubl.) Britton ex Small] Florida range:
central and southern peninsula. Common name:
greater yellowspike orchid.
This species was first described by Swartz in
1800 as Cranichis luteola, and he stated that it was
“parasitic” on trees in mountains of Hispaniola and
Jamaica. It was commonly believed at that time that
all epiphytic plants were parasites. In Florida, this
globally-widespread species was first collected by A.
P. Garber near Miami, Miami-Dade County, in 1877
(Correll, 1950). It is a frequent inhabitant of
hardwood hammocks, wooded swamps, and coastal
mangrove-buttonwood forests of southern Florida.
Surprisingly, it is absent from the Florida Keys.
PONTHIEVA RACEMOSA (Walter) C. Mohr

Florida range: throughout the mainland to the
central Panhandle. Common name: hairy shadow
witch.
first time in the US in October 1852 in Suggsville,
Clarke County, Alabama (Correll, 1950). It can form
large colonies in hammocks, moist woods, on
limestone ledges, along the edge of limestone
solution holes, and stream banks. It is much more
common in central and northern Florida than in the
southern counties. It is locally common on some
tram roads of the Fakahatchee Swamp and in some
areas of Big Cypress National Preserve (Collier
County). In Miami-Dade County, it can be found
60
sporadically in a few hammocks of Long Pine Key in

Everglades National Park (often around solution
holes) and around the numerous small tree islands of
the East Everglades west of Homestead General
Airport.
PRESUMED EXTIRPATED
BLETIA PATULA Hook. Florida range: Miami-
Dade County. Common name: flor de pasmo.
Luer (1972) reported that this species was
collected by Manly Boss while on a botanical field
trip led by Roy Woodbury in “a scrubby pineland
southwest of Miami, Florida.” Woodbury and Boss
found what they reported as two colonies of orchids
with large pseudobulbs. When the collected
specimen flowered the following spring, it was
determined to be an albino form of Bletia patula, and
a voucher specimen substantiates the find. This
collection appears to be a one-time circumstance.
The photos published by Luer (1972) were taken in
1962 of a cultivated plant form Puerto Rico, which
was a typical pink-flowered form. Ruben Sauleda
(pers. comm.) believes that the plant that Luer
photographed was not Bletia patula. Also, Keith
Bradley (pers. comm.) saw an unmounted, unlabelled
specimen at the Buswell Herbarium.
BRASSIA CAUDATA (L.) Lindl. Florida range:

Miami-Dade County. Common name: spider
orchid.
61
J. K. Small and C. A. Mosier found this orchid

for the first time in Florida in Nixon-Lewis
Hammock, Miami-Dade County, in 1915 (Correll,
1950). What little remains of Nixon-Lewis
Hammock is at the end of Avocado Drive (SW 296
Street) where it meets Loveland Road (SW 217
Avenue). Correll (1950) also states that “it has not
been observed in Florida since April 1917 when J. K.
Small found it again in a hammock at the eastern end
of Long Pine Key in the Everglades.”
Frank Craighead’s notes indicate that he

moved this species into a number of hammocks on
Long Pine Key in the 1960s. These plants were likely
taken from hammocks near Homestead (Sykes
Hammock and Nixon-Lewis Hammock) to protect
them from collectors who had discovered the
locations. Collectors also found Craighead’s
introduction sites and illegally removed the plants
from the national park.
George Avery’s notes confirm that at least

one plant still existed in a remote hammock on Long
Pine Key (Deer Hammock) and he saw it in flower
on May 11, 1976. This plant was killed by the freeze
of January 19-20, 1977, which brought snow and 17°
temperatures to Miami. Avery revisited the site and,
in his notes taken on February 25, 1977, he states:
“Leaves all dead. One of the two pods fell off at
touch, and OLB [Everglades National Park biologist
62
Oron L. Bass] took it to be flasked.” The seeds,

however, did not germinate (Bass, pers. comm.).
Although rumors circulate that this species

may still occur in the East Everglades region of
Everglades National Park, it is generally believed to
be extirpated. Whether or not any genuine, Florida-
collected specimens still exist in private collections is
unknown. Fred Fuchs, Jr. claimed to still have
Florida stock at his orchid nursery in Goulds,
Florida, but a check by the author following Fuchs’
death turned up only plants of the related, exotic
Brassia maculata.
BULBOPHYLLUM PACHYRHACHIS (A.

Rich.) Griseb. Florida range: Collier County
Common name: rattail orchid.
This species was first discovered in Florida by
Fred Fuchs, Jr. in 1956 while wading through a
pond-apple slough in the Fakahatchee Swamp in
Collier County (Luer, 1972). Even then, only a few
dozen plants were known to exist. During the next
six years collectors decimated the population and
Carlyle Luer (1972) stated that “today only a few
stray plants remain, secreted away in some
inaccessible niche.” In 1977, Luer drew a detailed
map of the area for the author, who spent three full
days conducting a methodical and detailed search for
this orchid to no avail. In 1978, the author
accompanied Henry Brown, a knowledgeable orchid
grower from Miami, into an area of the Fakahatchee
63
Swamp where he had seen plants many years before

(this turned out to be the same area where Luer had
seen the species). Again, no plants were found. More
recent attempts at rediscovering this species have
been made by Florida State Park biologist Mike
Owen and others without success.
CRANICHIS MUSCOSA Sw. Florida range:

Collier and Miami-Dade counties. Common name:
cypressknee helmet orchid.
This species was recorded twice in Florida and
has not been seen since. J. E. Layne found it growing
in Lee County (the area where he found it is now
Collier County) in May 1903, and A. A. Eaton found
it in Miami-Dade County in December of the same
year (Correll, 1950). There is probably little hope of
rediscovering this species in Florida although it is a
diminutive plant that could be very easily
overlooked. There is also the possibility of another
chance reintroduction from the nearby Bahamas or
Cuba.
EPIDENDRUM ACUNAE Dressler [Epidendrum

blancheanum Urb.; Epidendrum ramosum Jacq.,
misapplied] Florida range: Collier County.
Common name: Acuna’s star orchid.
This species was not known to occur in the
US until Raleigh Burney discovered it in a remote
slough in the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County
in 1962 (Luer, 1972). Luer states that “several dozen
plants have been discovered within an acre or two of
64
dense forest [in the Fakahatchee Swamp], which

stands in a little deeper water than other sloughs.” It
is not known to occur outside of the Fakahatchee
Swamp, although, George Avery’s notes reveal that
during a trip to Roberts Lake Strand (Big Cypress
National Preserve) on February 28, 1978, Avery and
Everglades National Park biologist Oron “Sonny”
Bass walked “via tram from Loop Road [and]
detoured south from [the] tram into a cypress
swamp where Sonny saw a possible plant (sterile) of
this species.” There have been no confirmed reports
of this species in recent years.
MACRADENIA LUTESCENS R. Brown

name: Trinidad macradenia.
A. A. Eaton first discovered this orchid in
Florida in Royal Palm Hammock (Paradise Key) in
Miami-Dade County in December 1903 (Correll,
1950), which is now a part of Everglades National
Park. Donovan Correll collected this species in July
1936 in Sykes Hammock (now Fuchs Hammock)
west of Homestead. Frank Craighead’s notes indicate
that he moved this species into a number of
National Park in an effort to expand the population
and protect them from collectors. This effort failed.
Craighead reported to George Avery that he had
found 42 plants of this species in Osteen Hammock
on Long Pine Key, but by 1964, collectors had taken
all but two plants. These two plants were still present
65
in June 1966 but disappeared sometime after that

date. This species was highly sought by collectors.
Although there is a very recent unsubstantiated and
dubious report of a “large population” in a
hammock south of Loop Road in Everglades
National Park, this species is presumed extirpated.
ONCIDIUM CARTHAGENENSE (Jacq.) Sw.

[Synonymy: Lophiaris carthingenensis (Jacq.) Braem]
Florida range: Monroe County. Common name:
coot bay dancing lady orchid.
Correll (1950) and Luer (1972) both reported
that this species had been found by J. K. Small
“south of Coot Bay in Monroe County, Florida” in
1916. This was a one-time collection and a voucher
specimen substantiates the find. Correll (1950) states
that “plants of the original collection from Monroe
County were grown and flowered in April.” This
species very closely resembles another native species,
Oncidium undulatum (see the “Rare” section in this
report), so inspections would need to be conducted
during their flowering season if there is any hope of
finding other plants plants of O. carthagenense.
PELEXIA ADNATA (Sw.) Spreng. [Synonymy:

Spiranthes adnata (Sw.) Benth.] Florida range:
Miami-Dade County. Common name: hachuela.
This terrestrial orchid was first discovered in
Florida by the author in November 1977 in Fuchs
Hammock, Miami-Dade County (Hammer, 1981).
At first it was mistakenly identified as Eltroplectris
66
calcarata which, vegetatively, it closely resembled,

although the leaves were light green with
conspicuous white spots on the blade. In June 1978,
George Avery made a chance inspection of the
station and found two plants in flower. Avery and
the author made a detailed search of the surrounding
area and found a total of six plants growing among a
thicket of the exotic aroid, Syngonium podophyllum,
which helped conceal the plants. Avery identified the
plants as Spiranthes adnata and found a line drawing in
Flora of the Lesser Antilles – Orchidaceae (Garay and
Sweet, Harvard University, 1974). Avery deposited a
voucher specimen along with photographs in the
herbarium at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Carlyle Luer was notified of the find and he

visited the station with the author in July 1978 while
the plants were still in flower. Over the years, the
small colony declined and only a single plant could
be located by the author in July 1984. By July 1985,
the colony had completely disappeared. There is one
dubious report of this species occurring within
Everglades National Park. This species occurs on
Andros Island in the Bahamas and elsewhere in the
West Indies.
SPIRANTHES AMESIANA Schltr. Florida

Ames’ ladies’-tresses.
Miami-Dade County by A. A. Eaton, probably in the
67
early 1900s when he made of number of discoveries

of previously-unknown orchids in Florida. Fritz
Hamer of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in
Sarasota, Florida wrote a 1984 paper in which he
stated that “there are two collections from Eaton,
collected in Florida under the same number 921, but
one is Spiranthes torta (Thunb.) Garay and Sweet, the
other is smaller with smaller flowers and bears a note
Spiranthes amesiana Schltr.; the latter one is the
holotype specimen of Spiranthes amesiana, with which
our specimen is compared.”
More recently, Paul Martin Brown, while

working on a new book on Florida orchids, made a
determination that one of George Avery’s voucher
specimens of Spiranthes torta, collected in 1976 near
the Rockdale Pineland Preserve in southern Miami-
Dade County, fits the description of Spiranthes
amesiana. The author was with Avery when he made
the collection (Avery #1254) but, unfortunately, no
photographs were taken because we both believed
the plant was S. torta. Avery collected the plant
because we both decided that the site would soon be
developed (we were right). The site was west of the
Florida Turnpike and north of SW 144 Street. Paul
Martin Brown is optimistic that this species may still
be extant in Miami-Dade County. Very close
inspections of orchids thought to be Spiranthes torta
will be necessary to prove him right.
68
VANILLA DILLONIANA Correll [Vanilla eggersii

Rolfe, misapplied] Florida range: Miami-Dade and
Monroe counties. Common name: leafless vanilla.
Correll (1950) curiously states, “Judging from
the number of available botanical collections, this is
perhaps the most frequent and widespread species of
Vanilla in Florida. This species and Vanilla barbellata
are two of the three so-called ‘leafless’ Vanillas
known to occur in the Western Hemisphere.” He
assuredly must have somehow related the number of
collections to its abundance, because it was soon
extirpated from Florida. He also stated that he had
seen specimens from both Miami-Dade and Monroe
counties.
Luer (1972) reports a collection of this species

in Florida from Brickell Hammock by Frank Erwin
in 1928. The plant was given to Mr. and Mrs. Young
C. Lott, who grew it to flowering size at their home
in South Miami. Correll based his description on a
plant collected from Brickell Hammock by Ralph
Humes in 1946, but it was Lott’s plant that was
illustrated by Gordon Dillon for Correll’s book,
Native Orchids of North America North of Mexico (1950).
There is a herbarium specimen collected by

Ralph Humes in June 1944 from "Monroe County,
Cape Sable region" (Correll, 1946). Cape Sable is the
southwestern tip of mainland Florida in Everglades
National Park. It is unfortunate that Humes did not
offer more specific information regarding the
69
occurrence of this species on Florida's west coast.

To rediscover this species in Florida would require
inspecting flowering plants in the mangrove forests
and coastal hammocks around the Flamingo area,
but the author has photographed Vanilla barbellata in
this area and the mosquitoes in May and June border
on the unbearable.
VANILLA MEXICANA Miller [Vanilla inodora

Shiede, misapplied] Florida range: Miami-Dade and
Martin counties. Common name: Mexican vanilla.
This vining tropical orchid was first found in
Florida by Fred Fuchs, Jr. and his son in a hardwood
hammock south of Homestead, Miami-Dade
County, in 1953 (Luer, 1972). At the time, it
occurred in at least a half dozen hammocks within a
6-mile radius of the area where it was first
discovered (Luer, 1972). Collectors decimated the
populations within a short period of time. It had not
been reported again in Florida until the early 1990s
when Ruben Sauleda and others reported two new
stations in Martin County. Recently, however, these
populations also appear to be the target of collectors
because the population has severely dwindled since
its discovery, even though the plants are in a
preserve. This species is in a precarious situation that
needs immediate attention from either state or
Martin County officials and/or conservation
organizations if it is expected to survive much
longer. It is included in this report solely on its
historic occurrence in Miami-Dade County.
70
NATURALIZED EXOTICS AND

LOCAL ESCAPES
BLETIA FLORIDA (Salisb.) R. Br. Florida
none.
In 1977, Nancy Zareski (now Nancy
Edmondson) and the author found a pot of orchids
growing in the yard of Mrs. Isabel Krome in
Homestead. Zareski and the author were caretakers
of the home following Mrs. Krome’s death. When
the plant flowered in March 1978, it was identified as
Bletia florida, a species native to Cuba and Jamaica
(florida is Latin for “flowering”). The plant was
moved ca. 1980 to a residence at 22410 SW 125
Avenue in Goulds, Florida where it flourished after
being planted in marl soil. In 1981, three seedlings
were observed growing near the parent plant.
This species is still being cultivated at the

residence of Don Keller (Cutler Ridge), at the
nursery of Jon and Mary Foote (Redland), and the
author (Homestead). Jon Foote (pers. comm.)
reports seedlings frequently showing up in pots of
other plants and the seeds germinate readily when
planted in wet sphagnum. Seedlings have also been
observed at the author’s residence. To date, it is only
known as a local escape.
71
CYMBIDIUM ALOIFOLIUM (L.) Sw. Florida

range: Miami-Dade County. Common name: aloe-
leaved cymbidium.
This is an occasionally cultivated epiphytic
species in South Florida. It is native to India, Sri
Lanka, Burma, and southern China to Java and
Sumatra. Seed capsules are readily produced in
Florida but the pollinator is unknown. Cymbidium
aloifolium was one of many species cultivated by
Henry Brown at his orchid nursery (Eureka Orchids)
located 1-mile east of Krome Avenue on SW 184
Street (Eureka Drive). His residence was at the same
location.
During a visit to his nursery by the author,

Brown pointed out a number of young plants of this
species that had volunteered on the exposed root
mass of a pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii), These
seedlings were first noticed in the early 1970s and
were photographed by the author. Brown sold his
nursery and residence in the early 1980s. Because
this species demonstrated its ability to escape
cultivation at Brown’s residence, it has the potential
to do so again wherever it is grown in southern
Florida.
CYRTOPODIUM POLYPHYLLUM (Vell) Pabst

ex F. Barrios [Synonymy: Cyrtopodium paranaense
Schltr.; Cyrtopodium andersonii, (Lamb. ex Andrews) R.
Br., misapplied] Florida range: Miami-Dade
County. Common name: parana cowhorn orchid.
72
Luer (1972) misidentified this orchid in

Florida as Cyrtopodium andersonii, native to the West
Indies and tropical America. In May 1976, the author
sent flowers from Florida material to Kiat Tan of the
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota for
identification. Tan determined that the flowers
belonged to Cyrtopodium paranaense, a native of South
America.
According to George Avery’s notes, on June

15, 1971, Betty McCormack mentioned to Avery,
who was attending a Native Plant Workshop
meeting at Castellow Hammock, that a Cyrtopodium
had volunteered inside her screen porch in limestone
gravel. During that same meeting, it was also
mentioned that a Cyrtopodium had volunteered on an
old baseball cap beneath a bench in Fred Fuchs’
greenhouse. Nearly one year later, on May 12, 1972,
McCormack brought Avery a leafy stem and an
inflorescence from her plant, which he pressed
(Avery #1155) and deposited at Fairchild Tropical
Garden. With the help of Stanley Kiem, who worked
at Fairchild Tropical Garden at the time, Avery
tentatively identified the yellow-flowered plant as
Cyrtopodium andersonii. Avery also pointed out that he
had found a 1964 article in the Florida Orchidist (Vol.
7, No. 2, pp. 78-79) by John Beckner that listed this
species as native, and an earlier issue of the same
publication (Vol. 2, No. 4, 1959) had an article by F.
S. Shuttleworth reporting this species along Florida’s
73
west coast (there are no voucher specimens to

substantiate this find).
Stanley Kiem gave an interesting account of

this orchid to George Avery and the author in July
1972. Kiem stated that it was introduced into Florida
ca. 1949-50 by John F. Kasper, who operated a
nursery in Miami. Kasper had received a specimen
from Sao Paulo, Brazil as Cyrtopodium paranaense.
Kiem acquired a plant from Kasper in 1951 and
cultivated it at this Miami residence. It escaped
cultivation in Kiem’s yard and naturalized in a
nearby pineland. Kiem told the author that it spread
five miles in five years. Kasper closed his orchid
business in 1954 and moved to another Miami
residence, taking this orchid with him. Three years
later, Kiem found plants naturalized in the lawn of
Ed Jordan, who lived about three blocks away from
Kasper. The flowers that the author sent to Kiat Tan
came from Jordan’s residence.
Despite earlier claims that it is a native

species, it is unquestionably a naturalized exotic in
Florida and is treated as such by Wunderlin (1998).
There is currently a single, large colony of C.
paranaense in a sandy pineland preserve near Kendall
Tamiami Aiport in Miami-Dade County. A fire at the
site in 1994 had no effect on the population,
indicating that it is a fire-adapted species in its native
habitat. Liz Golden also reports finding a flowering
plant of this species escaped at Bill Baggs Cape
74
Florida State Recreation Area on Key Biscayne. The

plant was removed and given to George Gann of the
Institute for Regional Conservation, who pressed the
plant as a voucher. Golden reportedly found another
specimen in the same area and that plant was
removed and destroyed. At least one other plant has
been reported from a sandy pineland preserve a
short distance to the east of Kendall Tamiami
Airport. That this species has not spread into other
areas of southern Florida is surprising, given its
propensity to readily escape wherever it is grown.
Gustavo Romero has determined that Cyrtopodium
polyphyllum is the correct name and that C. paranaense
is a synonym.
Plants of this species at the author’s residence

have escaped in open mulched areas and the author
has also noted that parent plants occasionally
produce vegetative offsets from the roots.
LAELIA RUBESCENS Lindl.

The natural range of this species is Mexico,
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. It is a
relatively common orchid in the nursery trade in
Florida. In April 1999, Russ Clusman and Blanca
Alvarez were checking on an unidentified Encyclia
growing on an oak within Matheson Hammock Park
(Miami-Dade County) when they found a single
cluster of orchids on a separate oak tree. In October
1999, the plant flowered and it turned out to be a
white-flowered form of Laelia rubescens. Because the
75
plant had pseudobulbs ranging in size from pea-size

to fully mature, it is believed that this plant had
grown from seed rather than being purposely
planted there. The location is directly next to
Fairchild Tropical Garden, so it is possible that this
is a chance occurrence of this species spreading from
seed from plants cultivated at the Garden or
somewhere else nearby.
OECEOCLADES MACULATA (Lindl.) Lindl.

[Synonymy: Eulophidium maculatum (Lindl.) Pfitz.]
Florida range: central and southern mainland and
the Florida Keys. Common name: monk orchid.
1974 by Robert Grimm, who found it colonizing the
understory of Matheson Hammock in Miami-Dade
County (Hammer, 1981). Carlyle Luer accompanied
the author to the site and Luer identified the plants
as Eulophidium maculatum, a native of Africa and
South America. Herbarium specimens were
deposited at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in
Sarasota and at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami.
This rapidly dispersing orchid has since invaded
natural habitats and disturbed sites throughout South
Florida and much of Central Florida, and is expected
to continue its advance northward. It has already
moved as far north as Brevard and Sarasota counties.
University of Florida professor, William L. Stern,
collected plants in Miami-Dade County to study, and
those that he cultivated at Gainesville (Alachua
County) escaped cultivation and managed to survive
76
several winters before succumbing to a prolonged

hard freeze.
Although this species is treated as an exotic in

Florida, its appearance here may be the result of a
natural migration northward from tropical America
as a result of global warming. Stephen R. Johnson
(1993) writes, “the rapid migration of this species
[Oeceoclades maculata} from the tropical regions of
Brazil and Puerto Rico into the subtropical and
warm temperate regions of the Florida peninsula
may be indicative of gradual climatic change.” The
rapid colonizing of the West Indies by O. maculata is
well-documented, and the species spread across
Puerto Rico in approximately 20 years (Johnson,
1993). It has been reported that O. maculata originally
escaped into Miami-Dade County’s Matheson
Hammock from Fairchild Tropical Garden, but a
check by the author in 1974 revealed that this
species has never been accessioned at the Garden
and none of the staff ever recall propagating it there.
By whatever means it arrived in Florida, it is certainly
here to stay.
VANILLA PLANIFOLIA Andrews [Synonymy:

Vanilla vanilla (L.) H. Karst.]
Florida range: Collier and Miami-Dade counties.
Common name: commercial
vanilla.
This is the vanilla orchid of vanilla extract
fame. The Franciscan friar, Bernardino de Sahagun,
77
is believed to be the first person to write about this

vanilla in Mexico in 1529 (Correll, 1950). He
reported that the Aztecs used "tlilxochitl" in cacao,
sweetened with honey, and sold the spice in
marketplaces. It is generally believed that this vining
orchid was introduced into Florida in pre-Columbian
times (before the arrival of Columbus). There are
botanists who conclude that plants that were in
Florida prior to European contact should be
considered native to the state, because they regard
Man as a natural vector. Using this philosophy it
would mean that this species should be considered
native to Florida and not a naturalized exotic.
Wunderlin (1998) and other authors, however, list it
as an exotic.
In South Florida, it is generally found in areas

that were once inhabited by indigenous Indians, the
Calusa and Tequesta. There is, in fact, a spreading
population of this species within Addison Hammock
(Miami-Dade County), a location that also harbors a
Tequesta burial mound and kitchen midden. It is
also known from the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier
County where it was observed by the author in 1989.
Vegetatively, it is difficult to separate from Vanilla
phaeantha (see the "Uncommon" section of this
report). While Vanilla planifolia does occasionally set
capsules in Florida, it apparently does not spread
very readily from seed (if at all) in its adopted land. It
spreads easily from cuttings. Plants root to trees and
then usually hang freely back toward the ground.
78
When stems break, they re-root and climb back up

the next available tree, usually becoming epiphytic
with age.
Some authors have relegated this species as a

synonym of Vanilla mexicana Mill. (see Wunderlin,
1998). More recently, however, it has been
determined that Vanilla mexicana is the correct name
for what has been referred to as Vanilla inodora (see
the Presumed Extirpated section of this report).
VANILLA POMPONA Schltr.

The inclusion of this species is based upon a
single specimen collected by Roy Woodbury, part of
the Buswell Herbarium that is now at Fairchild
Tropical Garden. The only label information was
"southern Dade County, May 1945". It is not
surprising considering that it is a showy species that
is popular in cultivation and may very well have
persistent around an old homesite or a piece had
been tossed out in yard trash.
ZEUXINE STRATEUMATICA (L.) Schltr.

Florida range: nearly throughout. Common
name: soldier’s orchid; lawn orchid.
The first documented report of this Asian
orchid’s occurrence in Florida rests on a photo taken
by George Nelson of three plants he found in
January 1936 west of Felsmere, Indian River County
(Correll, 1950). Since that early discovery, this
species spread rapidly in Florida. It is generally
79
believed that it arrived here from seed that had

contaminated centipede grass seed shipped from
China in the early 1930s. Luer (1972) points out that
this species spreads not only from seed, but
produces offsets from the roots of mature plants
after they have died back following anthesis. This is
a ubiquitous orchid, being found in a variety of
natural habitats as well as lawns, greenhouses,
groves, and mowed road shoulders.
ERRONEOUS REPORTS
ENCYCLIA HODGEANA (A. D. Hawkes)
Beckner [Synonymy: Epidendrum hodgeanum A. D.
Hawkes]
In February 1981, Tony Engrazio reported to
Nancy Zareski (now Nancy Edmondson) that he
had found a population of this species several years
before, somewhere near Gannet Strand in Big
Cypress National Preserve (Collier County).
Following Engrazio’s instructions, the author made
an attempt to locate this population in June 1981,
but only found plants of a related native species,
Encyclia tampensis. In July 1981, Engrazio claimed to
have made a second attempt to find the population
but did not think that he had walked far enough. In
August 1981, Bruce Brezipir of Jones & Scully
Orchids told Zareski that he had seen plants of this
species in cultivation in Engrazio’s private collection
and doubted the authenticity of his “discovery.”
There are no other reports of this species occurring
in Florida.
80
LEOCHILUS LABIATUS (Sw.) Kuntze

Luer (1972) reported this species as occurring in
the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County based on
a report by William Osment, who claimed to have
found it there in 1957. Although Osment reported to
Luer that he had “observed numerous plants in the
immediate area on many occasions,” Luer never
personally observed any wild plants of this species in
Florida. The photos published by Luer (1972) were
of plants cultivated by Osment in his greenhouse.
There are no voucher specimens to support the
presence of this species in Florida and there are no
further reports of its occurrence in the state. It is not
listed by Wunderlin (1998) and is generally regarded
as a hoax.
MAXILLARIA SANGUINEA Rolfe

According to an article by Chuck McCartney
(1993), a specimen of Maxillaria sanguinea was
reportedly collected from the Pinecrest region of Big
Cypress National Preserve, Collier County, in 1947.
The plant was given to Alex Hawkes for
identification but it died before it bloomed, so it was
impossible to have it positively identified. The dead,
sterile specimen was then forwarded to Charles
Schweinfurth at the Botanical Museum of Harvard
University, who tentatively identified it as M.
sanguinea, a native of Costa Rica and Panama.
McCartney went on to report that John Atwood of
the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota,
Florida, and an expert on the genus Maxillaria, said,
81
“I don’t have any doubt that the plant is Maxillaria

sanguinea, all right, but I don’t know how it got there
[the Big Cypress Swamp]. This is pretty improbable.”
RESTREPIELLA OPHIOCEPHALA (Lindl.)

Garay and Dunsterville
Luer (1972) reports that this species was
found in the Fakahatchee Swamp in Collier County
by Edgar R. Thomasson, Jr. in 1963. Thomasson
claimed that he had collected plants “which looked a
little different to him” from a pop ash slough (Luer,
1972). When one of these plants flowered, it proved
to be Restrepiella ophiocephala, although it was thought
at the time to be a large-flowered form of the native
Pleurothallis gelida. Luer (1972) also states that a
second collection of R. ophiocephala was made in a
different area of the swamp. The photos that Luer
published were of a cultivated specimen. There are
no voucher specimens to support the presence of
this species in Florida and the reports were likely a
hoax. It is not listed by Wunderlin (1998).
SPIRANTHES SINENSIS (Persoon) Ames

On March 28, 1996, John Beckner, of the
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida,
and Donna Burch, of the Orchid Conservation
Committee, Inc., discovered what they believe is this
Asian species growing in "sand shell beach sand" on
an island just offshore of Florida's gulf coast in
Collier County (Beckner, 1996). The author has been
in contact with both Dick Wunderlin and Paul
82
Martin Brown regarding this orchid. It is listed in

this report as an erroneous report on the basis of
Paul Martin Brown's personal observations.
Specimens at USF [University of South Florida] and
SEL [Marie Selby Botanical Gardens] labeled as S.
sinensis were examined by Chuck Sheviak and Paul
Martin Brown and all were determined to be
aberrant S. vernalis. Paul Martin Brown visited the
site where the original collections were made and
they also were determined by him to be aberrant S.
vernalis.
Literature cited:
Austin, D. F. et al. 1990. Vascular Plants of Fakahatchee Strand State
Preserve. Florida Scientist 53(2): 89-117.
Beckner, J. 1996. Spiranthes sinensis (Persoon) Ames Found in Florida.
North American Native Orchid Journal 2(2): 154-158.
Black, D. W. and S. Black. 1980. Plants of Big Cypress National
Preserve: A Preliminary Checklist of Vascular Plants. South
Florida Research Center Report T-587.
Brown, P. M. 1999. Recent Taxonomic and Distributional Notes From
Florida 1. North American Native Orchid Journal 5(1): 11-15.
_______2000. Govenia floridana (Orchidaceae), A New Species Endemic
to Southern Florida, U.S.A. North American Native Orchid Journal
6(3): 231-240.
Catling, P. M. and C. J. Sheviak. 1993. Taxonomic Notes on some North
American Orchids. Lindleyana 8(2): 77-81.
Correll, D. S. 1946. The American Species of "Leafless" Vanillas.
American Orchid Society Bulletin 15: 328-333.
Correll, D. S. 1950. Native Orchids of North America north of Mexico.
Chronica Botanica Co., Waltham, MA.
Hammer, R. L. 1981. Finding New Orchids: A Contribution to the
Orchidaceae of Florida. Fairchild Tropical Garden Bulletin 36: 16-
18.
_______1997. Have We Lost the Young Palm Orchid? Florida Native
Plant Society: The
Palmetto 17(1): 8-9.
83
Johnson, S. R. 1993. Photosynthesis and Aspects of Phenology of the

Rapidly Dispersing Orchid, Oeceoclades maculata. Lindleyana 8(2):
69-72.
Lakela, O. and F. C. Craighead. 1965. Annotated checklist of the vascular
plants of Collier, Dade,and Monroe Counties, Florida. Fairchild
Tropical Garden and the Univ. of Miami Press, Coral Gables.
Loope, L. L. and G. N. Avery. 1980. Plants of Everglades National Park:
A Preliminary Checklist of Vascular Plants. South Florida Research
Center Report T-574.
Luer, C. A. 1972. The Native Orchids of Florida. New York Botanical
Garden, New York.
McCartney, C. 1993. A New Name for Florida’s other Maxillaria. The
Florida Scientist 36(3): 25-29.
Romero-Gonzalez, G. and P. M. Brown. 2000. Galeandra bicarinata
(Cyrtopodiinae, Orchidaceae), A New Species from Florida and
the Greater Antilles. North American Native Orchid Journal 6(2):
77-156.
Small, J. K. 1933. Manual of the Southeastern Flora. University of North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. A Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. University
Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Roger L. Hammer, Avocado Dr., Homestead, FL

rlhammer@earthlink.net
Roger is a senior naturalist for Miami-Dade Parks Department's southern
region and Director of Castellow Hammock Nature Center. He is also a
part-time instructor and fieldtrip leader for Fairchild Tropical Garden.
Roger was the recipient of the first Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award
presented by the Dade
Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society in 1982 for "outstanding,
consistent and constant service in the areas of education, research,
promotion, and preservation of native plants."
He also received the second Charles Brookfield Medal awarded by
Tropical Audubon Society in 1996 for "outstanding service in protection
of our natural resources." and is a member of the Board of Directors of
Tropical Audubon Society. Roger was the opening ceremony speaker at
the Eleventh World Orchid Conference held in Miami in 1984 and
keynote speaker at the Florida Native Plant Society's 17th Annual State
Conference held in Gainesville, Florida in 1997. He is also the author of
numerous articles on the flora and fauna of southern Florida and is
currently writing a field guide to Everglades wildflowers for Falcon
Publishing, due to be published in spring 2002.
84
Empiricist: PHILISTINES
PHILISTINES
The Slow Empiricist
Philistine n. An ignorant, narrow-minded

person, devoid of culture and indifferent to art. Funk
and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary N-Z
The thrust of this article is aimed at the long-

suffering spouses, friends and companions of the
avid orchid enthusiast. It was prompted by my
attending a disastrous concert that featured the
works of early 20th Century musical composers. The
first selection by Shostakovich was lively and
colorful but loud to my ears. The second piece by
Prokofiev degenerated into clashing noise that gave
me a sharp headache. I bounded out of the hall
during intermission and waited in my car for my
fellow musical enthusiasts who remained through
the rest of the concert. When we met at the
conclusion to travel back to our homes my friends
were utterly amazed that I had preferred to sit out in
my car than to hear what for them was the glorious
music from a world-class symphony orchestra. What
was heavenly to their ears was cacophony to mine.
As I let my subconscious mind wrestle with
my behavior at the concert later that night, during
85
my sleep, I started thinking about how likes and

dislikes dictate human beings' behaviors. I like
melodic classical works that were produced by such
composers as Hayden, Beethoven and Mozart, I
even like some of the early 20th century composers
like Stravinsky but repetitive work like Ravel's Bolero
are hard for me to really enjoy.
Then I thought about art works and how
many people are turned off by some of the later
artworks produced by artists who apparently liked to
splash around and daub garish paint on their
canvases. As a trained fine artist, however, I can
appreciate what they were attempting to produce. I
don't necessarily enjoy their results but I can
appreciate them. I concluded that maybe all I needed
was to know more about the musical genre that my
friends enjoyed.
That brought me to thinking about orchid
enthusiasts and the frustrations some of them
encounter from their friends and especially from
their spouses who are not very supportive of their
work with plants. Probably most of you people who
love to learn about orchids from the reading of
literature about them to the actual fieldwork in
finding living specimens have encountered some
amazing looks, or worse from some of your
acquaintances when you waxed enthusiastic about
native orchids. My own son would prefer a neatly
mowed yard with no flowerbeds to clutter up the
landscape or take his time in tending. Like many
developers who would go through a beautifully
wooded tract of land and clear-cut an area to
86
facilitate their building plans, my son likes his natural

areas sterile and easy to maintain. Now he wouldn't
go out and destroy a fragile habitat, I hope, but
being a businessman, he doesn't see the wrong that
some businesses engage in when they have little
regard for the environment. This causes some
concern for me but doesn't negate my love for my
son. I think that many nature lovers would find my
son's attitude about nature to be reprehensible.
There are many of us who have to live with
close friends or relatives who have similar or even
worse attitudes about the natural environment. How
to cope with these attitudes and perhaps change
them is a pretty impossible task. People have to want
to change or at least be open to the possibilities
before true change can occur. It also takes a
willingness on both sides to achieve some measure
of accord. My son respects my feelings about the
environment and since we live at opposite ends of
the United States we don't have personal clashes
over our attitudes. Clashes do happen in families and
among acquaintances that live in close proximity,
however. It can also happen that people can
accommodate each other's point of view, sometimes
quite satisfactorily. I will elucidate some examples of
how the two sides have assuaged their differences. I
also hope that both protagonists will be open to
some of the possible solutions to the tug of war that
opposing interests ply among otherwise happy
relationships.
The first example is about a married couple
whose attitudes were companionable towards each
87
other. She became increasingly enamored of nature

and joined several organizations that promoted the
natural environment. She then came in contact with
instructors who fired her simmering interests into a
roaring passion for plants, especially orchids. Her
hard working husband couldn't understand her
expanding love for nature but he was willing to try to
understand. He began to accompany her on
weekend field trips to view natural habitats. Instead
of dragging the story out, let me tell you that he
became so interested in orchids that he started
amassing a huge collection of orchid cultivars in a
new greenhouse built for that purpose. Now he is
retired, he spends endless hours tending and
nurturing these plants and eagerly accompanies his
wife on her field trips and classes. His enthusiastic
partner looks on in amusement at her husband's
devotion to his orchids - a success story that grew
out a willingness to try to understand another's
passions for plants.
There are more recalcitrant Philistines out
there, however. These spouses, friends or
acquaintances are not so motivated to understand
their significant others' passion for the natural world.
They are usually self-absorbed in their own world of
interests. It is harder for the orchid enthusiast to
change these people's attitudes and the obstructing
partner probably isn't even aware of how he/she
hinders the other. One successful couple worked
out a somewhat satisfying compromise. One of the
partners enjoyed fishing and hunting as an activity.
The other partner learned to like the same activities
88
and surreptitiously looked for orchids while they

were engaged in the sporting activities that took
them into natural environments. By planning trips to
possible good orchid spots that also gave the other
partner a chance to hunt or fish, the orchid
enthusiast got the companionship of a spouse as well
as a chance to explore new territory for plants. Vice
versa, it gave the hunter/fisherman similar
companionship. Although the orchid lover didn't get
the sportsman wild about the activity, at least they
abetted each other in the quest for their passions.
Even orchid lovers find incomprehensible
behaviors among their fellow enthusiasts. A couple
of winters ago a rare color form of an orchid was
discovered in Florida that gained some notoriety
when it became endangered by a planned
development in the area. The developers were quite
willing to set aside a portion of the property to
preserve the endangered plant. Unfortunately,
ensuing newspaper articles inadvertently gave
enough information for someone to go out and dig
the plants up. The sad thing is these particular
orchids have no real commercial value and because
they are very habitat specific in their growing pattern
being saprophytic, they will probably die. The only
conclusion people can come to is that some
enthusiast thought he/she could do a better job at
protecting the plants. Their attitude about these
plants, however, has successfully thwarted anyone
else from enjoying the plants. They are just as bad as
the other Philistines who ridicule or otherwise make
life difficult for orchid lovers.
89
So what can a person do to eradicate the

problems? First, if you are a Philistine and recognize
yourself in the examples, please rethink your
attitudes about your partner's enthusiasm for
orchids. Second, if you are a beleaguered orchid
enthusiast you might try some of the following
suggestions. Patience is probably the best way to
alleviate some of the stresses. Perseverance usually
pays off as well. Education is another avenue to
consider. Compromise can sometimes benefit both
viewpoints and bring about join satisfaction. There
will always be people who have no understanding
about the subject and little regard for the enthusiast's
passion. That seems to be part of life.
I hope my exploration will help some of you
who have been having problems to seek ways to
solve them, possibly employing some of the ideas
outlined in the article. If the solution does not come
forth easily, at least you now know that you are not
alone in the situation. And lastly, if you have an
exalted opinion of your ability to preserve an orchid
over nature's abilities and are prone to "rescue"
plants for your own selfish pleasure, please rethink
your attitude. As for my musical shortcomings I will
be open to learning more about early 20th Century
music, but I reserve the right to walk away from
situations that I find intolerable. I would do the
same thing on an orchid expedition if I found the
weather abominable or the bugs overwhelming.
Everyone should have that kind of freedom to make
their situation better. Happy solutions, everyone!
The Slow Empiricist
90
Brown: RECENT TAXONOMIC AND DISTRIBUTIONAL
NOTES FROM FLORIDA 9.
RECENT TAXONOMIC AND

DISTRIBUTIONAL NOTES FROM
FLORIDA 9.
Paul Martin Brown
• Spiranthes amesiana
Spiranthes amesiana was described in 1920 by

Rudolph Schlechter based upon specimens of
Spiranthes torta (as S. tortilis) sent to him by Oakes
Ames. Although Ames in 1921 discounted this as a
valid species, recent reassessments of Spiranthes in
North America by the author resulted the
revalidation of the species. Two taxonomic problems
appear to exist.
The first problem is one of Schlechter's

original description which, although it is extensive,
fails to note one of the most significant differences
between Spiranthes amesiana and S. torta. That
difference being the presence of glands and a very
fine pubescence throughout on S. torta and the
essential lack of same on S. amesiana. The following
emendation is proposed.
91
Spiranthes amesiana Schlechter emend. P.M.

Brown
Stem and inflorescence essentially glabrous, unlike

Spiranthes torta that is finely pubescent and glandular
throughout.
Second, the herbarium specimen sent to

Schlechter in Berlin in all likelihood was destroyed in
1943. Therefore the holotype no longer exists and a
lectotype must be designated from among the
isotypes at AMES. Four sheets of Eaton's collection
921 are extant at AMES. One of these sheets has, in
Oakes Ames handwriting, the follow "This no. of
Eaton's Florida orchids is the type of S. Amesiana
Schltr."
Therefore I designate the following as the lectotype

for Spiranthes amesiana Schlechter emend. P.M. Brown
LECTOTYPE: Coconut Grove, Rocky pinewoods,
Roots often in small crevices May 21, 1904, A.A.
Eaton 924 (AMES 2530).
ISOLECTOTYPES: AMES 82891; 2401,
66105
• Spiranthes floridana
When Edgar Wherry published his description

of Spiranthes floridana (as Ibidium floridanum) in 1931
92
little was known about the complexities of the

Spiranthes lacera complex. Recent research has not
only revalidated several species of Spiranthes but also
resulted in the description one new species, S. eatonii
P.M. Brown (1999). In a review of the treatment of
Spiranthes for the soon-to-be-published Flora of North
America, vol. 26, Bruce Sorrie recently pointed out to
the author that Wherry's original description did not
mention the degree of pubescence or lack thereof,
one of the major distinguishing features between S.
floridana and S. brevilabris. As a point of fact, Wherry's
concern was to separate it from S. gracilis rather than
from S. brevilabris. Subsequently Correll treated all
the taxa of this group as varieties of S. gracilis. In
both the Wild Orchids of Florida and Flora of North
America Spiranthes floridana will be treated as valid
species. The following emendation to the description
is proposed:
Spiranthes floridana (Wherry) Cory emend. P.M.

Brown
Plants differing from Spiranthes brevilabris in

the lack of a dense pubescence on the rachis and
within the inflorescence.
• THREE NEW COLOR FORMS
Habenaria odontopetala forma heatonii P.M.

Brown forma nov.
93
TYPE: US: Florida, St. Lucie Co. Sept. 2000

Holotype: photograph (J. Heaton) N.A. Nat. Orchid.
J. 7(1): 113; plate 9. 2001.
Forma plantae alba, sine viridis, conspeciebus diversa.
Differing from the typical Habenaria odontopetala in

the lack of all chlorophyll; therefore the entire plant
being white
This unusual true albino form of the common

H. odontopetala was found in September 2000 by 14
year old Jake Heaton. Precedent for such forma
include Epipactis helleborine forma monotropoides
(Mousley) Scoggin (Brown, 1997) and Platanthera
aquilonis forma alba (Light) P.M. Brown (Light, 1989;
Brown, 2000). The plant that is illustrated was
growing in a live oak hammock in St. Lucie County.
Although it did not reach full flowering, it could be
readily identified. Jake has done a great deal of
orchid hunting in his area and found many new
records for St. Lucie County including Oeceoclades
maculata and Triphora gentianoides.
Triphora trianthophora forma caerulea P.M.

Brown forma nov.
TYPE: United States: Florida, Suwannee County. 17
September 1960. Locally quite common; flowers
blue; on wooded stream bank (about 300 yards
below Ichetucknee Springs, sec. 12 T6S R15E,
94
southeast corner of Suwannee County. Holotype: A.

Will s.n., det. A. Will & D. Ward (FLAS).
Forma floribus caerulea conspeciebus diversa
Differing from typical Triphora trianthophora by the

blue coloration of the flowers.
In researching herbarium specimens for the

Florida Native Orchid Project several specimens
were seen that indicated blue flowers. It was not
until October 2000 that blue-flowering plants were
seen by the author. They are a most distinct color
form and worthy of recognition as such. The best
collection with the greatest amount of data has been
selected for the holotype.
Sacoila lanceolata var. paludicola forma aurea

P.M. Brown forma nov.
Forma floribus lutea conspeciebus diversa
differing from the typical form of the species by it

yellow flowers
TYPE: US: Collier County, Corkscrew Swamp
Sanctuary. March 20, 2001. growing with typical
scarlet colored plants on old cypress logs. Holotype:
photograph (P.M. Brown), N.A. Nat. Orchid. J. 7(1):
114, plate 10. 2001.
95
This striking yellow colored form of the

Fakahatchee beaked orchid was found within a large
colony at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier
County, Florida. Sacoila lanceolata can be quite
variable in color throughout its range but here in
Florida color variation has not previously been seen
in the variety paludicola.
TWO NATURALIZED SPECIES

RECENTLY DOCUMENTED FOR
FLORIDA AND THE UNITED STATES
Research for the Florida Native Orchid Project,

and subsequently for The Wild Orchids of Florida, has
uncovered many new county records for Florida and
a few new species records. Both of these represent
new genus records for both Florida and the United
States. Curiously enough both species have been
known from naturalized populations in the
Caribbean for some years, so it is no surprise that
they are present in Florida.
• Spathoglottis plicata Blume
Greg Allikas, of West Palm Beach, reported the

occurrence of Spathiglottis plicata in Palm Beach
County where plants have been known for more
than 20 years in abandoned shellrock excavations.
They have been noted in several sites and appear to
be reproducing well and spreading locally. Plants
96
occur with several another non-native species,

Oeceoclades maculata, as well as the native Bletia purpurea
and Eulophia alta.
• Phaius tankervilleae (Aiton) Blume
John Tobe of Tallahassee, noted the presence of

several plants of Phaius tankervilleae in Hardee County
on a bayhead tributary of the Peace River, some
distance from any population centers. The plants
were well established and reproducing in deep muck
along the river. This is a very popular species in
cultivation throughout much of Florida, although
there has never been a substantiated report of
naturalized plants, perhaps because of the moisture
requirements. The broad, plicate leaves, tall scapes,
and large showy flowers are unmistakable and
should be sought in similar areas.
Literature Cited:
Ames, O. 1921. Rhodora 23: 82-83.
Brown, P.M. 1997 The Wild Orchids of Northeastern
United States. Cornell University Press, Ithaca
____________1999. NA Native Orchid Journal 5(1): 3-15.
____________2000. NA Native Orchid Journal 6(1): 43.
Correll, D. 1940. Bot. Mus. Leaflet. of Havard Univ. 8:76.
Light, M.S. & M. MacConaill. 1989. Lindleyana 4(3): 158-
160.
Schlechter, R. 1920. Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 37(2): 148.
Wherry, E. 1931. Journ. Wash. Acad. 21:49
97
Spathoglottis plicata
98
6th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN
NATIVE ORCHID CONFERENCE
September 7-9, 2001

Acton, Maine
Pre-conference workshop on Thursday

evening Sept. 6, 6:30-9 pm
Spiranthes Ecology, Distribution &
Identification
Charles J. Sheviak & Paul Martin Brown
A workshop using both live and herbarium
material; microscopes will be provided and an
extensive handout will be supplied: cost
$12.00
schedule
Friday, Sept. 7
9am Registration - Acton Congregational Church
Conference commences at 10 AM
Speakers will include:
Charles J. Sheviak
Mark Nir
Scott Stewart
Gerardo Salazar
99
Brian Keel
a special presentation from Philip Keenan on the
Life History of Triphora trianthophora
and others to be announced
Registration cost: $55, which includes lunch and

dinner and all field trips
Meals package for those not attending the
conference:
Lunch $7.50, Dinner $10.00
Field Trips on Saturday and Sunday, September

8&9
Saturday to western Maine and nearby New
Hampshire proceed northward to Colebrook, NH
Sunday to northern New Hampshire and northern
Vermont
Species to be seen include:

Spiranthes cernua (3 different ecotypes),
Spiranthes casei, Spiranthes ochroleuca,
Spiranthes romanzoffiana, Spiranthes xborealis
and several other Spiranthes hybrids; Goodyera
repens, tesselata and pubescens (some may still be
in flower); Epipactis helleborine in a variety of
colors; and the possibility of late-flowering
100
Platanthera lacera, psycodes, xandrewsii,
aquilinis & huronensis.
Please send your registration and indicate the

various activities and meals carefully. Unlike other
conferences, meals are included for registrants and
available for spouses or companions.
SEND REGISTRATIONS TO NANOA, PO BOX

759, ACTON, MAINE 04001
Conference Only: $55 for Friday, Saturday and

Sunday
Pre-conference Spiranthes Workshop: $12
Additional meals lunch on Friday $7.50

Dinner on Friday $10.00
101
The Acton Congregational Church is located just
off Route 109 in Acton Center and visible from the
road. It is adjacent to the Town Hall and Library
just past the new Fire Station.
From Boston take I-93 north to I-95 north to the

Route 109 exit in Maine. It is labeled for Sanford
and Wells. Take 109 north through Sanford and
Springvale, past Mousam Lake and into Acton.
Past the Acton fairgrounds; it is a small town with
no commercial center - just a crossroad
Driving time from Boston about 2.5 hours
Alternate route (our preference) would be to take I-

93 north from Boston to I-495 north to Route 125
exit for Haverhill, Mass/Plaistow, New Hampshire
(be careful as there are several 125 exits) Continue
north on 125 to Rochester, New Hampshire and
then north on US 16 to US 202 and signs for
Sanford. After crossing into Maine you will pass
through Lebanon and then up a long hill. At the
top of the hill watch for Route 11a on the left. Turn
left and it will take you down to Springvale. Turn
102
left again and proceed to Acton. Driving time from
Boston about 2+ hours.
The biggest difference is if you want services and
shops along the way. The I-95 route does not have
anything along the way whereas the 125 route,
although a bit slower traffic-wise, has a lot to see
and do, especially if you are looking for lunch!
To get to Acton from the Portland, Maine area take

I-95/Maine Turnpike south to the Route 109 exit
for Sanford and proceed as above.
Travel time from Portland is 1 hour.
Suggested Accommodations-
Nearest to Acton:
Motels
Mousam Valley Motel, Springvale, Maine 207-
324-2165
Campground
Apple Valley Campground 207-636-2285
In nearby Sanford, Maine, 9 miles south of Acton

Oakwood Inn & Motel, Sanford, Maine 207-324-
2160
Bar-H Motel, Sanford, Maine 207-324-4662
In South Sanford 15 miles from Acton
Super 8 Motel 207-324-8823
If you wish to stay at the ocean Wells, Ogunquit

and Kennebunk are all about an hour from Acton.
Kennebunkport is 1.5 hours from Acton (traffic
103
can be really heavy at times). There are literally
hundreds of places to stay along the coast
Recommended places to stay for Saturday evening

in Colebrook, New Hampshire
In downtown Colebrook:
Monadnock B&B - Bed and Breakfast
603-237-8216
Rooms With a View - Bed and Breakfast
603-237-5106
Colebrook House Motel & Restaurant
(603) 237-5521
Sportsmans Lodge and Cabins

Diamond Pond Road, Colebrook
(603) 237-5211
A bit remote and rustic but with great ambience
and food
Or for a real experience in old-time New

Hampshire luxury accomodations
The Balsam's in Dixville Notch
603-255-3000
Campground
Diamond Lake State Park Campground
There are many other campgrounds in the area.
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
LOOKING FORWARD
JUNE 2001
Orchid Floras of North America
Reproductive Biology of the Pink

Lady's-slipper
Range Notes on Corallorhiza bentleyi
Out of the Loop…?
…and more
115
Phaius tankervilliae
Nun orchid
116

March 2001 North American Native Orchid Journal

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NORTH AMERICAN

NATIVE ORCHID JOURNAL

a quarterly devoted to the orchids of North America

Requests for either print or electronic copies should

A STATUS REPORT ON THE NATIVE AND

RECENT TAXONOMIC AND

6th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE

It is not often that the Journal can present a

As the main thrust of the 2001 orchid season

The coming year will be of exceptional

Full information including schedule and

Paul Martin Brown

PO Box 772121 Ocala, FL 34477

A STATUS REPORT ON THE

The purpose of this report is to offer a

agencies and concerned orchidophiles a better

VERY RARE: Species with extremely small

Nomenclature and common names generally follow

Botanist George Avery’s unpublished notes

Basiphyllaea showed up again in a different

Yet another discovery came in September

A small population is also known from a

Although there are a number of sites in

BELOGLOTTIS COSTARICENSIS (Rchb. f.)

CALOPOGON MULTIFLORUS Lindley

There is an old herbarium record of this

CYCLOPOGON ELATUS (Sw.) Schltr.

Conservation biologist George Gann found a

species, Cyclopogon cranichoides, and the two species

ELTROPLECTRIS CALCARATA (Sw.) Garay &

County and, therefore, this orchid may no longer be

ENCYCLIA PYGMAEA (Hook.) Dressler

EPIDENDRUM STROBILIFERUM Rchb. f.

Florida range: Collier County. Common name:

GALEANDRA BICARINATA G. A. Romero &

Castellow Hammock from 1972 through 1976. In

Gustavo Romero-Gonzalez and Paul Martin

GOVENIA FLORIDANA P. M. Brown [Govenia

other dated October 21, 1962. The University of

In September 1960, Hurricane Donna

HABENARIA DISTANS Griseb. Florida range:

LEPANTHOPSIS MELANANTHA (Rchb. f.)

find because of its diminutive size and its habit of

MAXILLARIA CRASSIFOLIA (Lindl.) Rchb. f.

was slated for development. Craighead made many

MAXILLARIA PARVIFLORA (Poepp. & Endl.)

Several large clusters of this orchid had

possible that the rest of the tree fell, sending the

MESADENUS LUCAYANUS (Britton) Schltr.

given as “Miami-Dade Co., Everglades National

PLEUROTHALLIS GELIDA Lindl. Florida

observed by the author. This species is listed on the

PONTHIEVA BRITTONIAE Ames [Synonymy:

On February 24, 1979, the author discovered

inflorescence for closer study and later determined

A few plants were seen at the same Long Pine

PRESCOTIA OLIGANTHA (Sw.) Ames Florida

Homestead in 1905 (Correll, 1950). This hammock

SPIRANTHES EATONII Ames ex P. M. Brown

herbarium at Harvard University, to forma

Over the next 94 years, this taxon would be

TROPIDIA POLYSTACHYA (Sw.) Ames

surveyed about four dozen plants in a small