Corallorhiza striata var. striata

This was taken on an afternoon walk in Sehome Hill Arboretum in Bellingham, adjacent to the campus of Western Washington University. It is not an arboretum in the true sense of the word, but a 180 acre park covered with second growth forest and with much of the native flora preserved.

We found two Coralroots on our hike, this, the Striped Coralroot, as well as the Western Spotted Coralroot. This we found in only one location, the other in quite a number of locations along the trails, though if we had had more time I'm sure we could have found more.

Like all Coralroots, these are leafless, without chlorophyll, and live off decaying plant material in the soil (they are mycotropic). This species has another variety with much smaller flowers that is much more rare and not as showy.

nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2012/05/t...