keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

764 ORCHIDACEAE/HABENARIA
or reddish markings, resupinate; sepals 15–25 mm long, lip 3-lobed, hinged, mobile, the protruding
portion (= epichile) “when touched or stirred by a slight breeze, flaps rapidly like the
jaw of an overly talkative person” (Liggio & Liggio 1999); capsules pendent, 2–2.5 cm long.
Stream banks in woods, usually associated with limestone springs and seeps (in TX Adiantum
capillus-veneris, VENUS’-HAIR FERN or SOUTHERN MAIDENHAIR FERN, is a common associate);
Blackland Prairie in Hays and Travis (BRIT) cos. near w edge of East TX, also Austin, Dallas
(Correll 1961), Gonzales (Liggio & Liggio 1999), and Washington (T. Kiphart, pers. comm.) cos.;
also scattered in w 1/2 of TX; B.C. and throughout w U.S. e to MT and TX, also SD. Mar–Aug.
According to Luer (1975), the common name CHATTERBOX is used “because the oscillating portion
of the protruding lip from the bottom of the flower reminds one of a loquacious acquaintance.”
Pollination is reportedly by syrphid flies (Luer 1975). This species is considered to be of
conservation concern in TX. (RARE 2002b: G3S3) � m/286
HABENARIA Willd. FINGER ORCHID, FALSE REIN ORCHID, REIN ORCHID
Plants erect to ascending; roots both slender and tuberous, fleshy; tuberoids sometimes present
at base of stem; leaves 3–8, sheathing the stem; inflorescences spicate racemes with few to
many flowers; flowers white or green, resupinate; petals deeply 2-parted; lip deeply 3-parted,
not fringed, with a spur; pollinia 2; capsules erect to semi-erect.
AA pantropical and subtropical genus of ca. 600 species (Sheviak 2002c), the number depending
on circumscription. A number of segregates are sometimes split out based on differences
in flower structure and roots. For example, many species previously placed in Habenaria
are now treated in Platanthera (see discussion under Platanthera). (Latin: habena, reins, thong,
or strap, in allusion to the shape of the long, strap-like divisions of the lip of some species)
REFERENCES: Ames 1910; Luer 1972; Brown 2000b; Sheviak 2002c.
1. Petals (including lip) white; spur 5–8 cm long, much longer than the pedicellate ovary; lateral
lobes of the lip 10–18 mm long _________________________________________________ H. quinqueseta
1. Petals (including lip) green; spur 0.9–1.4 cm long, ca. as long as the pedicellate ovary; lateral
lobes of the lip 5–11 mm long _______________________________________________________ H. repens
Habenaria quinqueseta (Michx.) Eaton, (five bristles, in reference to the five long narrow structures
of the perianth—these being the lower division of each of the 2 petals and the 3 lobes of
the lip), PINE HABENARIA, MICHAUX’S ORCHID. Plant 20–50(–60) cm tall; roots fibrous; ovoid
tuberoid usually present at base of stem; leaves 3–7, ovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 5–20 cm
long, 2–6 cm wide; inflorescences loosely-flowered, with 3–15 flowers; flowers fragrant; sepals
green, oblong to ovate-oblong, 6–13 mm long; petals white, deeply 2-parted, the upper division
linear-oblong, falcate, 4–9 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide (the upper divisions of the 2 petals converging
in front of the upper sepal), the lower division filiform, recurved, 10–12 mm long, ca. 1 mm
wide; lip deeply 3-parted, the lateral lobes filiform, 10–18 mm long, recurved, the middle lobe
linear, 8–15 mm long; spur slender to slightly club-shaped, recurved, usually 5–8 cm long, much
longer than the ovary; capsules 15–20 mm long. Pinelands, flatwoods, swamps; included for East
TX based on range maps in Luer (1972) and Sheviak (2002c) showing occurrence in the se part of
the Pineywoods; possibly also in the Gulf Prairies and Marshes; no county distribution map is
provided. Correll (1961) cited a Charles Wright (who collected in TX in mid-1800s) collection of
undetermined county (but probably in the Big Thicket—Liggio & Liggio 1999); according to Geiser
(1937, based on Asa Gray’s letters), Wright’s collecting in deep East TX was in Angelina, Jasper,
Newton, and Tyler counties. The current occurrence of this species in the state is questionable.
As indicated by Liggio and Liggio (1999), “This orchid was undoubtedly a rare, disjunct species
in Texas when Wright collected it. It was probably an isolated occurrence at the western limit
of its range.” Se U.S. from SC s to FL w to TX. Aug–Sep. [Orchis quinqueseta Michx.] This species
has often been treated as including H. macroceratitis Willd. [H. quinqueseta var. macroceratitis
(Willd.) Luer]; however, Brown (2000b) considered the two to be distinct species. m/287