Two Coralroots in the Chuckanut Mountains

I was out for a little while on May 5th checking out some locations in the Chuckanut Mountains and looking to see if the Striped Coralroots, Corallorhiza striata var. striata, were blooming.  They were, and I found them at two locations along with the Western Spotted Coralroots, Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis.  At one location the Striped Coralroots had been decimated by slugs, but even so I found enough of them to photograph.  It is interesting that we've always found the two species growing together but have never found any indication that they hybridize.  Perhaps the pollinators are so different that there is no possibility of them hybridizing.

Striped Coralroot

(Corallorhiza striata var. striata)

Western Spotted Coralroot

(Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis)