Striped Coralroot / Corallorhiza striata

This is one of our small, wild Orchids, Striped Coralroot. It is a native plant and grows in open woods. Grows 15-40 cm tall, June-July. Always a good feeling when we come across a few clumps of this attractive plant. Yesterday afternoon, 31 May 2016, I went for a botany walk with a group of friends. I have missed almost all the outings this spring, so thought I had better go. We walked in North Weaselhead, where we saw these beautiful orchids, hidden in their usual little spot.

"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