This small orchid is named for Kalypso, the sea nymph in Homer's
Odyssey, from her beauty and secretive behavior. The Calypso
orchid grows around the world in the northern hemisphere. In California
it has been found as far south as Santa Cruz.
Look for it in Marin County on Mount Tamalpais in the duff under the Douglas
Firs at Rock Spring and Laurel Dell, near the top of Steep Ravine Trail, and along
the Matt Davis Extension Trail.
For more information on the Calypso Orchid, see The Wild Orchids of
California by Ronald A. Coleman, Cornell University Press, 1995.