Corallorhiza striata

Corallorhiza striata is a species from the genus Corallorrhiza. It is a cool growing leafless saprophytic orcid.

Description

Plant blooms from late spring to early summer with five to twenty 6mm wide flowers. Each flower is an open array of sepals and similar-looking petals which may be pink or yellowish and have darker pink or maroon stripes. Inside the flower is a column formed from the fusion of male and female parts, which may be spotted with purple or red. The fruit is a capsule one or two centimeters long. Like other coralroots, it has reduced leaves and no chlorophyll and relies upon its parasitism of the fungi for sustenance. This coralroot has an erect stem which may be red, pink, purple, or yellow-green to almost white. It is mostly made up of an inflorescence of orchid flowers.

Distribution

This flowering plant is native to much of North America, especially Canada and the northern and western United States. It is a member of the coniferous understory flora, where it lives in the layer of decaying plant matter on the ground obtaining nutrients from fungi via mycoheterotrophy.

Naming

Common Name:Striped Coral-Root

Synonyms

1. Corallorrhiza bigelovii S.Watson 1877
2. Corallorrhiza ehrenbergii Rchb.f. 1850
3. Corallorrhiza involuta Greenm. 1898
4. Corallorrhiza macraei A.Gray 1856
5. Corallorrhiza ochroleuca Rydb. 1904
6. Corallorrhiza striata f. eburnea P.M.Br. 1994
7. Corallorrhiza striata f. flavida (T.A.Todsen & Todsen) P.M.Br. 1995
8. Corallorrhiza striata f. fulva Fernald 1946
9. Corallorrhiza striata var. flavida T.A.Todsen & Todsen 1971
10. Corallorrhiza striata var. involuta (Greenm.) Freudenst. 1997
11. Corallorrhiza striata var. vreelandii (Rydb.) L.O.Williams 1934
12. Corallorrhiza vreelandii Rydb. 1901
13. Neottia bigelowii (S.Watson) Kuntze 1891
14. Neottia ehrenbergii (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891
15. Neottia striata (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891