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)

Three Native Orchids in Mount Rainier National Park

We were out for several hours at Mount Rainier National Park on Saturday, March 30, with the Washington Native Orchid Society.  We did not have time for sightseeing but visited a number of locations looking for native orchids.  We found three, two that we had seen already this season and one that we had not yet seen and that is rather rare in the state.

The Early Coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida, was the latest addition to this season's sightings.  We found around a dozen stems in an area where we had found this species before.  Growing with them we found a few Western Fairy Slippers, Calypso bulbosa var., occidentalis, as well as a few of the reddish form of the Heart-leaved Twayblade, Listera cordata var. nephrophylla.

At another site and a higher elevation we found hundreds of Fairy Slippers and quite a few more Heart-leaved Twayblades, this time mostly the all-green form.  The green form is Listera cordata var. nephrophylla, and the reddish form is forma rubescens.  We looked for white Fairy Slippers in the area but did not find any, though we had seen them there before.

The Early Coralroot is the smallest of the Coralroots in our area, usually less than 30 cm tall with 1 cm flowers.  This species ranges across the northern USA and Canada and is found in Europe and Asia as well.  The North American Twayblades have all been reclassified as Neottias, so what we saw is more correctly, Neottia cordata var. nephrophylla.

Early Coralroot

Corallorhiza trifida

 Heart-leaved Twayblade, green form

Neottia cordata var. nephrophylla

 Heart-leaved Twayblade, reddish form

Neottia cordata var. nephrophylla fma. rubescens

Western Fairy Slipper

Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis

More Orchids on Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands

I was out for several hours with members of our local orchid society visiting some of the sites we know on Whidbey and Fidalgo Islandz.  We found three different species and number of rarities including white Fairy Slippers (Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis fma. nivea) and both the golden-stemmed and the unspotted form of the Western Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis fma. aurea and fma. immaculata).  We also found the dark purple form of the Western Coralroot or Merten's Coralroot (Corallorhiza mertensiana), a form which we know from only one location (this species usually comes in shades of pink, tan, yellow and white).  The Fairy Slippers were nearly finished but the Coralroots were just coming to the peak of their bloom season.  Interestingly, the Fairy Slippers and Western Spotted Coralroots were fewer in number than previous years but the Western Coralroots were much more abundant.

Western Coralroot

Corallorhiza mertensiana

Western Spotted Coralroot

Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis

 gold-stemmed Western Spotted Coralroot

Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis fma. aurea

unspotted Western Spotted Coralroot

Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis fma. immaculata

Western Fairy Slipper

Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis

  

white Western Fairy Slipper

Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis fma. nivea