ORCHIDACEAE. 87 



olate; blade of the lip ovate-hastate, distinctly auricled and truncate 

 at base; spur filiform, 2.5 times as long as the lip. 

 Santa Monica Mountains, Hasse. 



2. LIMNORCHIS Rydb. 



Perennials from fusiform tubers. Stems leafy, the 

 leaves not withering until the fruit is set. Flowers in 

 loose or more or less condensed spikes. Sepals 3-7- 

 nerved, the lateral free at the base. Petals distinctly 

 3-nerved; lip flat or concave, without median ridge, not 

 truncate at base, free. Anthers opening in front. 



Flowers white, in rather dense spikes. 1. L. leucostachys. 



Flowers green, loosely scattered. 2. L. sparsiflora. 



1. L. leucostachys (Lindl.) Rydb. Stem stout, 6-10 dm. high; 

 lower leaves oblanceolate, the upper lanceolate; spikes 1-3 dm. long, 

 rather dense; flowers white, 15-20 mm. long; lip lanceolate, about 

 8 mm. long; spur filiform, about 12 mm. long. 



Wet places in mountain meadows and along streams in the San 

 Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains. 



2. L. sparsiflora (Wats.) Rydb. Stem slender, 4-6 dm. high; 

 lower leaves oblanceolate, the upper lanceolate; flowers few in a 

 slender loose spike, 2-3 dm. long, light green, about 15 mm. long; 

 lip linear, 8 mm. long, obtuse; spur filiform, about 10 mm. long. 



Mountain springs and meadows. Upper San Antonio Canyon, 

 San Gabriel Mountains, Johnston, also in the San Bernardino 

 Mountains. 



3. GYROSTACHYS Pers. Ladies' Tresses. 



Stems erect, leafy, from a cluster of tuberous roots. 

 Flowers in a twisted spike, white, spurless. Sepals and 

 petals narrow, erect or more or less connivent; lip ob- 

 long, sessile or nearly so, the base embracing the column, 

 with a callous protuberance on each side, the dilated 

 summit spreading and usually entire. Column very 

 short oblique, terminating in a short terete spike. Stig- 

 ma ovate, with an acuminate bifid beak. Anther sessile 

 or nearly so at the base of the stipe behind, acuminate. 

 Pollen-masses 2, thin and powdery. 



1, G. romanzoffiana (Cham.) MacM. Stems rather stout, gla- 

 brous, 1-5 dm. high, bracteate above; leaves oblong-lanceolate to 

 linear; spike dense, 3-ranked, conspicuously bracteate; sepals and 

 petals connivent; lip recurved, ovate-oblong, summit wavy-crenu- 

 late; callosities smooth, sometimes obscure; the oblong-linear gland 

 and slender bifid beak 1.5 mm. long; capsule oblong, 6-12 mm. long. 

 {Spiranthes romanzoffiana Cham.) 



Occasional in canyons in our foothills. 



