These Coral Root Orchids Are Welcoming Summer
The warm and sunny colors of these Coral Roots Orchids are a perfect way to welcome the first day of summer. Coral Roots, or Corallorhizas, are strange, leafless orchids. They live underground except when they flower. With no chlorophyll, they instead take nourishment from fungi in the soil. The wild orchids in these photos are blooming in the Rockies, at almost 7900 feet (2408 m) in elevation, near Durango in southwest Colorado.
I believe the reddish-purple plants in the first row of photos are the Spotted Coral Root, Corallorhiza maculata. It’s native to much of the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. The yellow and white flowers in the rest of the pictures are probably another color form of the Spotted Coral Root. They may also be the Early Coral Root, Corallorhiza trifida. No matter which species they are, these unusual blooms popping out of the forest floor are great signs of a healthy environment, and a welcome harbinger of summer.
Photos in this post courtesy of Brenda Hogue. See more Coral Roots in these previous posts:
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