STREAM ORCHIS (Epipdctis giganUa, Dougl.). Flowers 3 

 to 10, in a terminal, bracted raceme, on a leafy stem 1 to 4 

 feet high, or even 6 feet under special conditions. Sepals 

 yellowish-green, petals pinkish with purple veining; lip, barely 

 \ inch long, the baggy base with erect, wing-like margins, and a 

 pendulous tip. Blooms from May to July along the banks of 

 shaded streams and in wet clearings throughout California, 

 northward to Washington, thence eastward to Nevada, Colo- 

 rado and Western Texas. 



Before flowering the stoutish stems of Epipactis, with its 

 numerous clasping, parallel-nerved leaves 3 to 8 inches long, 

 might easily be mistaken for a Veratrum or False Hellebore. 

 For this reason early botanical writers gave to the European 

 Epipactis palustris the name Helleborine, by which term our 

 species sometimes goes in literature. It is the most commonly 

 encountered of Pacific Coast Orchids, and at times occurs in 

 patches of considerable size; but oftenest the plants are found 

 in small scattered groups or even in solitary state, having little 

 influence in the general picture. 



The Indians of Northern California formerly thought they 

 found medicinal value in the fleshy roots, and made a decoction 

 of them for internal use when they felt "sick all over." 

 36 



