HEATH FAMILY 177 



The naked, reddish stalks of this species usually grow up 

 through a bed of pine needles, each stem supporting a cylin- 

 dric cluster of thickish flowers. They may be expected any- 

 where in the Yellow Pine Belt but the species is nowhere 

 abundant. 



3. PLEURICOSPORA. 



1. P. fimbriolata Gray. Stalks erect, simple, stout and 

 fleshy, 3 to 8 in. high. Scales (reduced leaves) ovate, acute, 

 overlapping, white or brownish. Flowers in a dense raceme 

 (about 1 in. thick), each in the axil of a lanceolate fringed 

 bract. Petals 4 or 5, whitish, not united, barely Yz in. long, 

 fringed. Stamens 8 or 10. Ovary 1-celled. 



This peculiar, thick-set saprophyte was found pushing itself 

 up through the carpet of decaying pine and Sequoia leaves 

 in the Mariposa Grove and near Wawona. It is reported from 

 the Pohono Trail. 



4. SARCODES. 



1. S. sanguinea Torr. Snow Plant. Stem erect, simple, 

 stout and fleshy, 9 to 18 in. high, often 1 in. or more thick at 

 base, bearing reddish scales instead of leaves and a thick 

 raceme of fleshy red flowers. Lower scales ovate, the upper 

 strap-shaped, all glandular and with rough edges. Corolla 

 red, Y* to 24 in- long, deeply 5-cleft into pointed lobes. Sta- 

 mens 10. Ovary 5-lobed, becoming a 5-celled many-seeded 

 capsule surrounded by the persistent calyx. 



The Snow Plant is one of the most popular plants in the 

 mountains, where it occurs rather sparingly in the Yellow 

 Pine Belt. It sends its thick, bright-red stalks up through 

 carpets of pine needles after the snow has melted, but not 

 through the snow, as many suppose. The Park authorities 

 have forbidden the destruction of this plant and have imposed 

 a severe penalty for the non-observance of the regulation. 



5. PTEROSPORA. 



1. P. andromedea Nutt. Pine-drops. Stem erect, simple, 

 fleshy but rather slender, 1 to 4 ft. high, ^ to ^ in. thick at 

 base, very sticky, the leaves reduced to reddish-brown scales. 

 Flowers pendent in a narrow raceme, dense at first. Corolla 

 white, scarcely Y m - ^ on S> shortly 5-toothed. Stamens 10. 

 Ovary 5-lobed, many-seeded. 



As indicated by its name, this highly interesting plant is 

 an inhabitant of the pine woods, where its reddish-brown 

 stalks shoot up straight as an arrow, or are only rarely curved 



