Botanists and wildflower enthusiasts are always searching the woods and meadows for the unusual.  For some reason, members of the Orchid family, Orchidaceae, always jump to the top of the favorites-list of plants to find ... probably due to their rarity and low numbers as compared to other plant families.   Here at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center there are 5 species of orchids on record.

Two of those species are of the genus Spiranthes.   Found in wet seeps and vernal pool sites these plants are quite limited in numbers on the Center.  Here you see Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes porrifolia) in bloom at a newly found location near a spring-seep where we counted about 12 to 20 plants.   The word "tress" means a braid of hair, or a long lock of hair, so the name "Ladies' Tresses" is from the three vertical lines of flowers that spiral upward along the spike similar to a twisted braid of hair.