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Brown provides general distributional information, time of flowering, and habitat requirements for each species as well as a complete list of hybrids and the many different growth and color forms that can make identifying orchids so intriguing. He includes information on 26 species, 3 additional varieties, and 7 hybrids.
Wild ladies'-tresses occur from British Columbia, with the hooded ladies'-tresses, "Spiranthes romanzoffiana," to Florida, with Eaton's ladies'-tresses, "S. eatonii," The species newest to science, the starry ladies'-tresses, "Spiranthes stellata," is featured. Most of these species are easy to identify based upon their general appearance, range, and time of flowering. Answer three simple questions-when, where, and how does it grow? Then compare the living plant with the striking photos in these backpack-friendly laminated guides and consult the keys that Brown has created. Following these steps should enable both professional and amateur naturalists to achieve the satisfaction of identifying specific orchids in their native environment.
About the author
Paul Martin Brown is a research associate at the University of Florida Herbarium, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, and at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Founder and editor of the North American Native Orchid Journal, he is the author of eleven books, most recently Wild Orchids of the Northeast and Field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Texas. He has discovered or named several new species of ladies'-tresses in the past ten years and coauthored the treatment of Spiranthes for the Flora of North America series.
