6 4 



ORCHID FAMILY 



prominently veined, acute, the lower 

 ovate, clasping, 4 to 8 in. long, an inch 

 or two wide; upper leaves lanceolate, 

 smaller. Flowers 3 to 12, short-pedi- 

 celed, greenish or rose-pink, strongly 

 veined with purple. Sepals ovate-lance- 

 olate, 24 i n - long, the upper one con- 

 cave. Petals slightly smaller; lip 

 pouched at base, with narrow wing-like 

 margins, the summit broader and entire 

 but wavy-crested. Capsule becoming 

 Y\ to 1 in. long, recurved or spreading. 

 The stout, leafy stems of the Stream 

 Orchis are 1 to 4 ft. high, ending 

 in a raceme of peculiar, leafy-bracted 

 flowers. It grows only in wet places, 

 often associated with ferns, Thimble 

 Berry, the Sierra Rein Orchis, and other moisture loving 

 plants. Although nowhere abundant, it has been found in the 

 Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy valleys, etc., and is of wide dis- 

 tribution. Some botanists consider our species identical with 

 E. royleana Lindl., an inhabitant of the Himalaya Mts. 



2. E. decipiens Ames. Rattlesnake Plantain. Leaves all 

 basal, thick, spreading, broadly lanceolate, 2 to 4 in. long 

 including the petiole. Flowers numerous, longer than their 

 bracts. Sepals less than J4 m - long. Lip narrowed to sum- 

 mit, the margins incurved. Capsules erect, Y% in. long. (Good- 

 yera menziesii.) 



This plant does not bloom until midsummer, but it may be 

 known long before that time by its thick leaves which are 

 marked, especially up the middle, by conspicuous white veins. 

 The stems are 1 to V/t ft. high and are very glandular, espe- 

 cially above. It is common in the Yosemite. 



5. SPIRANTHES. Ladies' Tresses. 



1. S. romanzoffiana Cham. Stem from a fascicle of thick 

 oblong roots, 6 in. to 2 ft. high, leafy below, terminating in a 

 twisted spike of white flowers. Leaves oblong to linear, 

 acute, narrowed at base but sessile. Flowering spike 1 to 4 

 in. long; bracts large, taper-pointed. Sepals and petals all 

 united, about Yz in. long; lower petal recurved, narrowed 

 below the rounded wavy summit. 



The Ladies' Tresses makes its appearance in July in 

 meadowy places of moderate altitude and is especially com- 

 mon in meadows of the upper end of Yosemite Valley. 



