THE ORCHIDS OF HAWAII 355 



The dull green floral spike is disappointingly mediocre to any- 

 one who is familiar with the beautiful fringed orchids of the 

 northeastern states. The flowering stem attains a height of 

 3.0 to 7.5 dm. The bracts which subtend the flowers, one 

 below each flower, are longer than the blossoms, and obscure 

 them. The lower bracts are lanceolate and foliar; the others 

 gradually diminish in size towards the apex of the spike. 



The detailed description of the flower is modified from Hille- 

 brand's original description: 



Sepals: Coriaceous, subequal, broadly ovate, 4 mm. long, all converging. 



Petals: As long as the sepals; converging, abruptly tapering from a broad, 

 sessile, uneven-sided basal part to a slender apex. The apex is recurved, linear, 

 and truncate or emarginate. 



Lip: Thick, linear, entire, (hence the specific name holochila); truncate, 

 ridged in the middle, curved ascending. The lip is nearly as long as the sepals, 

 and is provided with a thick, club-shaped spur, longer than itself, and only a 

 little shorter than the ovary. 



Column: Very short; sessile; with a short rostellum; erect under the anther. 



Anther: Terminal but adnate to the face of the column; pollen-sacs nearly 

 parallel. 



Pollinia: Two, granular; the caudicles terminating in naked viscid glands 

 distant from each other and not imbedded in cells of the 2-lobed stigma. These 

 glands are so arranged as to readily adhere to the head of any visiting insect. 



Capsule: 12 to 14 mm. long; seeds oblong, margined. 



It is to be regretted that nothing can be reported as to the 

 mechanics of cross-pollination in the Hawaiian orchids. Insects 

 are by no means abundant in the native forest, as compared 

 with those of continental regions. As with the plant series, so 

 with the insect series, there are many important groups either 

 entirely absent from the Hawaiian fauna, or only meagerly repre- 

 sented. The insect fauna is surprisingly lacking in the forms 

 commonly associated with cross-pollination phenomen in other 

 countries. There are no data at hand to indicate accurately 

 the insect agencies in the pollination work. Possibly a certain 

 amount of close pollination takes place, as mature capsules are 

 not uncommon. The biologic relationships of Hawaii's three 

 endemic orchids ofl'er an attractive problem. 



