Striped Coralroot

Another of our wild Orchids, the rare Striped Coralroot. This small Orchid (macro image) with very tiny flowers was seen with quite a few others on our walk yesterday, at the new Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. We were extremely lucky to be allowed this chance, as the Park will not be open to the public for another 1-3 years.

"Corallorhiza striata is a species of orchid known by the common names striped coralroot and hooded coralroot. 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. 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. 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."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corallorhiza_striata