RHH's photos with the keyword: spotted coralroot

Coralroots are strange plants lacking both leaves and chlorophyll. As a result they often grow in dark forests where nothing else will grow. These Spotted Coralroots were photographed in a forest along the Columbia River. They have yellow stems but the species is variable and often has red, brown, pink or even white stems.

This is the red-stemmed form of the Spotted Coralroot, Corallorhiza maculata var. maculata fma. rubra. It was photographed on an orchid-hunting excursion to eastern Washington some weeks ago. It was only when I was getting the photo ready to post that I noticed the caterpillar on one of the flower stems. Do you see it?

There are two varieties of this leafless, saprophytic orchid - in the variety shown the sides of the lip are parallel while in the Western Spotted Coralroot (var. occidentalis) they are rounded, giving a much fuller appearance to the lip). These two varieties often grow together, but bloom at slightly different times. This plant was photographed on the grounds of the Au Sable Institute in Coupeville, Washington. This was published in the April, 2011, issue of Orchids, the magazine of the American Orchid Society, in an article titled "Taking Aim."

A single flower of the native orchid species shown in the previous photo. Photographed on the grounds of the Au Sable Institute in Coupeville, Washington. Those who are interested might want to check my new blog at: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/