352 VAUGHAN MacCAUGHEY 



with a wonderful venation of golden tracery against a bronze- 

 green background. Other species have silver veins. 



The flowers of the Hawaiian Anoectochilus , like those of the 

 other members of the genus, are neither showy nor remarkable. 

 The many-flowered terminal spike rises to a height of 14 to 16 

 cm. Near its base are several empty bracts. The flowers are 

 yellow, and are sometimes marked with a few pinkish spots. 

 The most conspicuous feature of the flower is the long two- 

 lobed blade. The following description, modified and revised 

 from Hillebrand^ will present the details of the floral structure 

 of this modest Hawaiian orchid: 



Sepals: Spreading, broadly ovate, and united at the base. The upper ones 

 are united with the petals and form a three-pointed "helmet." The lateral ones 

 are oblique, ovate-oblong. Length of perigone, 8 mm. 



Lip: Adnate to the foot of the column; spreading; deflected; saccate at the 

 base; 10 to 12 mm. long. It is prolonged into a narrow, channeled, entire or 

 denticulate claw, which is broadly expanded and deeply 2-lobed at the apex. 



Column: Short, curved above and emarginate; with two large globose callos- 

 ities in front of the projecting rostellum; bilamellate below the stigma. 



Anther: Terminal, free; incumbent on the apex of the column; persistent, 

 bilocular; finally becoming erect. 



Pollinia: Two lobed; consisting of rather large, easily-separable granules. 

 The pollinia are prolonged into short caudicles which are attached to a common 

 viscid gland. 



Capsule: Conspicuously three-ribbed; 1 cm. long. 



Dr. Hillebrand mentions a variety which he designates heta, 

 with a finely fringed claw. This however is rare and of doubt- 

 ful status, as he himself states that both types of flowers occur 

 in the same clump of plants. It has not been found by the 

 writer. 



This inconspicuous orchid grows here and there in the humid 

 portions of the lower forest zone of all the islands, up to an 

 elevation of 1200 to 1500 feet. It prefers moist, shady places, 

 such as ravines, wooded valley slopes, and the groves along 

 streambeds. It is nowhere abundant, and is generally solitary 



^Hillebrand, William, Hawaii's greatest botanist; a German physician who 

 lived for many years in Honolulu; the manuscript of his great Flora of the 

 Hawaiian Islands was completed just two months before his death, and was 

 published posthumouslj^ (1S8S). The work is out of print, and very scarce. 



