ORCHID FAMILY 63 



2. H. leucostachys Wats. Sierra Rein-orchis. Stem ro- 

 bust, 1 to 4 ft. high, leafy throughout. Leaves lanceolate, 4 

 to 9 in. long, y 2 to 1 in. wide, the upper ones smaller and 

 narrower. Flowers larger, white, in a rather dense spike, 

 mostly shorter than the slender bracts; lip rhombic-lanceo- 

 late; spur l A to y 2 in. long; upper petals inarched and over- 

 lapping at tip; capsule sessile, y 2 to 24 m - long. — In wet or 

 boggy places of middle altitudes; the most common and 

 showy species. 



3. H. sparsiflora Wats. Less robust, 1 to 3 ft. high, leafy 

 throughout. Leaves lanceolate, the larger 3 to 9 in. long, T / 2 

 to 1 in. wide. Flowers greenish, somewhat scattered in the 

 open spike, usually shorter than the bracts; lip narrow, 

 linear or lanceolate; spur ^ in. or less long; upper petals 

 inarched, their tips overlapping; capsule sessile, l / 2 in. long. — 

 Not rare along streams at 4,000 to 8,000 ft. alt.; the only 

 green-flowered orchis of wet places. 



H. hyperborea R. Br., a species with greenish flowers in a 

 dense, thick spike, the short spur scarcely exceeding the 

 sepals, has been reported from our district, but the plants 

 were apparently H. sparsiflora. 



3. CEPHALANTHERA. 



1. C. austinae Heller. Leaves reduced to white sheaths 

 an inch or two long. Flowers numerous, sessile, pure white. 

 Sepals and petals similar, oblong-lanceolate, about y 2 in. long; 

 lip shorter, its base concave and the limb rounded. (C ore- 

 gana Reich.) 



In this species the whole plant is pure white, its nourish- 

 ment being derived entirely from decaying vegetation. The 

 clean stems grow from slender rootstocks to a height of 

 1 to 2 ft. and are very conspicuous in the dense forests, but 

 they are by no means abundant. The species has been found 

 near Big Meadows, near Crane Flat, in Little Yosemite Val- 

 ley, and at Eight-mile Station. Its range extends northward 

 along the Sierra Nevada and North Coast Ranges and through 

 Oregon to Washington. 



4. EPIPACTIS. 



Erect plants from creeping rootstocks. Flowers in bracted 

 terminal racemes which are more or less glandular. Upper 

 sepal and petals united into a hood over the lip; lip concave 

 at base, without callosities. 



1. E. gigantea Dougl. Stream Orchis. Leaves sessile, 



