RHH's photos with the keyword: mycoheterotrophic

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

The Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, is the only species of the genus in North America (Europe has numerous species). It is found along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia and unlike its European cousins is leafless and without chlorophyll, depending on a symbiotic relationship with a fungus to obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Because it has no chlorophyll it is often found on dark forest floors where little else is growing and where it stands out dramatically. Traveling along the Columbia River we hiked in the area of Dog Mountain and went to see these especially where they were growing with various Coralroots, also leafless and without chlorophyll. It was a very windy day and in taking pictures we had to contend not only with the wind but with the poor light in which these were growing. In many parts of their range they are rare, British Columbia having but a couple of closely monitored locations, but they are not rare in the Columbia River gorge or in California and we would see them again as traveled south.

The Gnome Plant, Hermitomes congestum, is a very rare plant, so rare that it is not even listed in the wildflower books I have for this area, but strangely is not even on any lists of rare or endangered plants for the state of Washington. It is without chlorophyll or leaves and lives off decaying material in the soil. This example was photographed along the Poodle Dog Pass trail in the North Cascades, where we found three or four plants. This is in flower and is just pushing up through the litter on the forest floor, which also gives some idea of its small size. It does grow a little taller, so that the flowers are perched atop a short stem, but the flowers are open almost as soon as it appears from the ground. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/poodle-dog-...

This is the Phantom Orchid, Cephalanthera austiniae, one of the most unusual of our native orchids and also quite rare across much of its range. The plant is mycoheterotrophic, totally without chlorophyll, bone white, with only a spot of orange color in the lip and leafless, rising from forest floors like a phantom and then disappearing again. We went to a location in southern Washington where these are abundant, and found a lot of them but only one plant in bloom. We then went another location and found photography there very difficult. The Phantoms were in bloom at the second location, a lot of them, but on a dark forest with a stiff breeze blowing and the forest floor full of Poison Oak. We managed, both of us, to avoid the Poison Oak (thankfully, since it can be nasty) and to contend with the low light and the breeze and get some pictures. I used a Litedisc reflector to help with the light, but also shot most of the photos at a much higher ISO than usual. Had to throw a lot of pictures away but a few turned out well enough to keep. Cephalanthera is a European genus primarily and this is the only species from that genus found in the Americas and it is unique even among its European cousins with its lack of chlorophyll and leaves, though there are European species with white flowers. It certainly is a species that once seen, will never be forgotten and one of the jewels of our northwest forests.

This is Corallorhiza trifida, the Early or Spring Coralroot, the plant I was looking for at Mount Rainier National Park, and as you can see, a rather insignificant plant. The plant shown here is less than six inches (15 cm) tall and the flowers very small. Interestingly, it is a plant that grows around the world. It has been reported from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, Kashmir, Greenland, Pakistan, and almost every country in Europe. It is leafless and partially mycoheterotrophic, i.e., it derives much of its nourishment from a complex relationship with a soil fungus, though, unlike other Coralroots it also has chlorophyll. A friend had found it in two locations in Rainier and I found it again in both, though it was very hard to find on account of its size.

Here's another color form of the plant I last posted, a pale pink stem instead of yellow and brownish flowers with heavier purple markings on the lip. It is fun finding these every year and seeing what new color forms we can find. They are leafless and without chlorophyll and so the one color that cannot be found is green. As noted before, these are only stems with flowers, so there are no leaves either. The are 12-18 inches tall and grow on forest floors where there is often little or no light, which also makes photography difficult.

Like all the Coralroots, the Western Coralroot, Corallorhiza mertensiana, is mycoheterotrophic, depending on a complex relationship with a soil fungus for its nourishment. It is without chlorophyll and without leaves and comes in a rainbow or colors, from reddish-purple to pink to off-white, tan and yellow and the flowers, too, are endlessly variable in color and spotting or lack thereof. This beautiful yellow was photographed on Whidbey Island earlier this year and the link below shows many other color forms photographed at the same time and later in the spring.